Digital market access and quality assurance measures for AYUSH drugs
Regulation, quality control, and e-commerce safeguards for Ayush drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940
- The Ministry of Ayush says Ayush drug oversight now combines manufacturing standards, State inspection, central coordination, pharmacovigilance, and e-commerce controls.
- The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization has an Ayush vertical that supports safety and quality regulation for Ayush drugs.
- The Central Consumer Protection Authority has advised e-commerce entities to sell certain Ayurvedic, Siddha, and Unani drugs only after upload of a valid prescription by the user.
What happened
The Ministry of Ayush has outlined a multi-layered framework for Ayush drug quality assurance and for medicines sold through digital commerce platforms. The framework combines manufacturing standards, laboratory testing, pharmacovigilance, and action against misleading advertisements.
The regulatory structure rests on the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs Rules, 1945, which contain exclusive provisions for Ayurvedic, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, Unani, and Homoeopathy drugs.
UPSC may frame the issue as a governance and public-health regulation question: how the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Drugs Rules, 1945, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization, State drug inspectors, and consumer-protection controls work together to ensure quality, traceability, and safe online sale of Ayush medicines.
Related dispatches
