AIOCD directs 660 district committees to write letters to commerce minister to support his statement against predatory pricing

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

Terming the discounts offered by the e-pharmacies and the branded retail stores such as Med-Plus, Apollo, Amazon, etc as malpractices in the medicine business, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has directed 660 district committees of its state affiliates to write letters to the Union commerce minister in support of his recent statement that government is against predatory pricing and will not encourage it.

Till July 10, 350 district units of chemists and druggists from 20 states who have affiliations with AIOCD wrote letters to the commerce minister supporting his statement against predatory pricing by e-retailers. The remaining 310 district committees were further advised by the AIOCD general secretary Rajiv Singhal to send the letters immediately, according to sources from AIOCD.
 
Across the country, AIOCD has the support of 660 district committees of chemists and druggists associations (CDA). As far as the CDAs are concerned, each district committee is a separate registered unit in every state, but it works as the district body of the state association. However, there are district associations that have no connection either with the state body or the national body.
 
A few days ago, the union minister of commerce Piyush Goyal reiterated the government’s stand that it was against predatory pricing indulged by e-commerce platforms because it adversely impacted millions of small retailers. The minister had also attributed the unethical dealing of the e-commerce companies to cheating and said it was against the rules and regulations of the country.
 
Praising the minister for his reported statement, the national trade body of drug traders has apprised the minister that the Committee of Group of Ministers (CGP) had already discarded the idea of e-pharmacies in the country in the interest of the people and because of about 4.5 crores of people depending on the business for their livelihood. In the ongoing campaign of writing letters to the commerce minister by the district units, the association has emphasized the fact that normal retail pharmacies cannot adopt the policy of discounts on drug prices as is offered by the branded retailers and e-pharmacies.
 
The association has clarified to the minister that the very purpose of the discount pharmacies in selling medicines at lower rates is not for the benefit of the public, but to attract customers and drive out the small retail stores from the market to avoid competition. According to AIOCD, online pharmacies, and branded retailers are abusing the market by indulging in predatory pricing.
 
According to senior traders with responsible positions in AIOCD, despite several court orders are there to stay online pharmacies that are doing online sales without licenses and cases pending with the courts seeking a ban on e-pharma sales, a lot of e-trading companies are doing business in medicine sales incessantly and they are progressing without any halt. However, no action has been taken against the law-breakers so far. This has prompted the AIOCD to write letters to the commerce minister in light of the health and family welfare ministry’s attempt to further amend the drugs and cosmetics rules, for which the ministry has already published the draft rules.
 
The association hopes that the commerce minister's statement against predatory pricing may prompt the health ministry to withdraw from its decision to amend the D&C Rules to favor online pharmacies.

PHARMABIZ.com