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.

— Source publishedWed, 27 May, 2026, 01:05 IST·First seen Wed, 27 May, 2026, 01:18 IST·Source ET Small Business

What happened

Online Pharmacies · Coal minister Kishan Reddy has urged the health ministry to act on unregulated online pharmacy expansion, citing chemist association

Key facts

  • 1.24 million chemists

Why this matters

Watch for distressed e-pharmacy assets and accelerated chemist-network roll-ups as regulatory pressure tilts deal economics toward omni-channel platforms with offline anchoring.