THDNewsDesk, Bengaluru: Walmart-owned Flipkart has now entered the e-pharmacy area, following in the footsteps of Reliance and Amazon India. It has collaborated with Gurgaon-based 1MG. The app is currently available on Flipkart’s Android unit. It implies that buyers can purchase prescribed medicines, e-books, physician consultations and lab examinations from Flipkart.
The e-commerce giant’s admission in e-pharmacy is so far noticing resistance. The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), a structure with 8.5 lakh members, has addressed Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Walmart president & CEO Doug McMillon, stating the cooperation is in contention to local regulations.
Due to site visitors, Flipkart is endeavoring to appease more customer demand. Prescription medicines, lab checks and physician consultations are in extreme need between the pandemic, as customers attempt to regulate their activities innumerably. This is the major reason that huge corporations like Amazon, Reliance and now Flipkart have entered the arena.
AIOCD’s letter to McMillon and Krishnamurthy stated, “We are forced to write to you as we discovered that Flipkart, which is owned by Walmart Inc, USA has partnered with an e-pharmacy by the name of 1MG.COM to sell ‘Prescription Medicines’ on its platform. This partnership is against the laws in our country.”
It has even begun vending over-the-counter drugs, which don’t require a prescription. The note from AIOCD stated, “We hope that the above points make it amply clear to you that e-pharmacies are usually not legal in our country and indulging with them will attract unnecessary legal implications. We are sure that you will not like to get in these hassles.”
The Flipkart spokesperson conveniently forgot to mention this altercation AIOCD, saying,
“As consumers increasingly look for preventive care in the wake of the pandemic, it was a natural step for us to scale up our portfolio and launch products across categories such as immunity boosters, respiratory care, diabetic care, digestive care and cardiac care, among others.”
1 MG co-founder and CEO Prashant Tandon also did not care to bring the matter up.