India's leading food delivery platform, Swiggy, has recently partnered with e-pharmacy giant PharmEasy. The collaboration aims to provide 10-minute medicine deliveries through Swiggy's quick commerce platform, Instamart. While this move is seen as a strategic maneuver to enhance Swiggy's presence in the e-pharmacy space ahead of its upcoming IPO, it has sparked alarm among members of the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD).
Swiggy's new entry into Pharmacy industry
Swiggy's Instamart has been offering quick deliveries of basic over-the-counter (OTC) items, but with this partnership, the platform will now include a wider range of medicines, including prescription drugs. The service starts in Bengaluru, enabling customers to conveniently upload their prescriptions or avail of teleconsultation services provided by PharmEasy.
The AIOCD has raised serious concerns about the collaboration between Swiggy's grocery arm Instamart and PharmEasy, particularly regarding the ultra-fast delivery timeline of 10 minutes through dark stores. The association's President, JS Shinde, and General Secretary, Rajiv Singhal, pointed out major issues with the partnership, stating that it may bypass crucial regulatory checks essential for ensuring patient safety.
According to the AIOCD, the distribution of medicines in India involves rigorous protocols such as prescription verification and patient identification to prevent harm to consumers. The association fears that the rapid delivery timeline proposed by Swiggy and PharmEasy could compromise these safety measures, potentially endangering the health of common citizens.
Moreover, the AIOCD has also highlighted the broader implications of the partnership on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a significant public health issue in India. The association believes that the "unregulated" operations of e-pharmacies like PharmEasy could undermine government efforts to combat AMR by facilitating unchecked distribution of antibiotics, thus exacerbating the problem.
"The ultra-fast delivery model may increase the possibility of expired or counterfeit medicines, which is harmful to patient safety. In such a model, it is not possible to follow the required quality standards," the association reasoned.
In a letter to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), AIOCD alerted that the quick delivery model could potentially violate Indian drug regulations and pose health and safety risks to the public.
"This partnership is likely to ignore important standards like proper prescription checking and patient identification, which may endanger the health of common citizens," the association further stated.
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