Coal Minister Pushes Health Ministry to Rein In Online Pharmacy Expansion

Kishan Reddy has flagged unregulated growth of online pharmacies, echoing chemist association concerns over deep discounting, predatory pricing, and unchecked Schedule H1 drug sales. AIOCD warns 1.24 million retail chemists are at risk if the centre fails to act on e-pharmacy regulation.

— Filed Wed, 27 May, 2026, 01:19 IST · Source ET Small Business · Updated

Coal minister Kishan Reddy has urged the health ministry to act on unregulated online pharmacy expansion, citing chemist association concerns over deep discounting, predatory pricing, and unregulated Schedule H1 drug sales threatening 1.24 million retail chemists.

Why this matters

The intervention escalates a long-running standoff between offline chemists and digital pharmacy platforms, adding cabinet-level pressure on the Health Ministry to finalise stalled e-pharmacy rules.

Omni-channel signals steady at 137 in the last 90 days, reflecting ongoing online-offline retail friction.