Online businesses and e-commerce are on rise in
India. Everybody is of the opinion that e-business is the upcoming
field that can fetch a handsome profit to the entrepreneurs who start
the same. Various e-commerce and e-business ventures have been
launched by Indian entrepreneurs in the year 2103 and most of them
already closed their shops. The reason for the closure of these
e-businesses is that an idea without appropriate
implementation would be ineffective.
Another related problem pertains to failure to
comply with the laws of India while indulging in e-commerce and
e-businesses. For instance, we have set
laws for opening an online pharmacy store in India. Even
the Ayurvedic
and Nutraceuticals
e-businesses are required to comply with Indian laws to operate
legally. Health,
food and medicine related legal compliances in India have
become really stringent. A good
compilation of food, health, cosmetics, drugs, medicines
and nutraceutical laws, rules and regulations in India has been
provided by New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law.
However, online pharmacies in India are not at all
complying with the legal
requirements pertaining to their operation in India.
Rather they are actively violating
the laws of India in this regard. Illegal and unregulated online sale
of prescribed medicines in India is still
happening despite the threat of the Directorate of Drugs
Control of India to punish
such illegal pharmacies.
According to Perry4Law online
sale of prescribed drugs and medicines in India is a very
controversial area. Most of the online pharmacy stores in India are
unable to comply with the requirements of Indian laws. There are many
techno legal requirements pertaining to privacy,
data
protection (PDF), encryption,
cyber
law due diligence (PDF), Internet
intermediary obligations, cloud
computing, etc that are required to be complied with by
online pharmacy stores operating in India.
Mobile
health related laws and regulations in India have added
another dimension to these complicated legal norms. If a medical
device is also sold by these online pharmacies that intend to serve a
health/medical purpose, the mobile health and telemedicine
related legal issues would also arise.
The regulatory
and legislative measures to check online pharmacies trading in banned
drugs in India are also in pipeline. The digital
communication channels for drugs and healthcare products in India
are also subject to numerous regulatory compliances. All these issues
require implementation of techno
legal measures on the part of Indian government, opines
Perry4Law.
It is for the Indian government to encourage law
abiding online pharmacies and punish stringently the illegal
pharmacies of India so that the menace of counterfeiting and illegal
drugs and medicines can be curbed.
