Nationwide pharma strike falls flat in Bengaluru as most stores stay open

Bengaluru: The nationwide protest against online sale of medicines received a lukewarm response in Bengaluru on Thursday, with most pharmacies and medical stores continuing to function despite the shutdown call by several chemists’ and druggists’ associations.

The protest sought a ban on online sale of medicines, with traders alleging that several platforms were violating rules under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

Rajeev Gowda, a pharmacist in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, said: "We are against the online sale of medicine, but shutting down our shops will not help us in pushing the government to withdraw online delivery. If we are shut, online platforms will have more orders.”

Manjula K, a pharmacist in Jayanagar, said: "If small shops like ours are closed there would not be much of an impact, we would rather have our business open.”

Ramesh Babu CV, Secretary of the Bengaluru Pharma Retailers and Distributors Forum, said the city has around 8,000 pharmacies, including nearly 1,000 chain outlets such as Apollo Pharmacy and Aster Pharmacy.

“Out of the 7,000 pharmacies only 2,000 are open in the city and most of them are lending support to the strike without closing down. Most distributors in the city are also closed,” he said.

Home delivery services

Some pharmacists said many neighbourhood stores have now started home delivery services and accept orders through WhatsApp in an attempt to compete with online platforms.

Sridhar Reddy, a pharmacist, said: “Though we are a relatively small shop, we provide home delivery in the three-kilometre radius and to our regular customers, we are trying to do better with deliveries because of the apps.”

Rajashekar, another pharmacist who shut his shop, said pharmacies could compete with apps in delivery, but not in discounts. “They give up to 20% discount. We can only manage to give around 10% discount, which is enough for consumers to choose online platforms over us,” he said.