Frequently Asked Question Related to Pharmacy Store in India

In this article, we are going to cover the question which is asked frequently by by pharmacists and Pharmacy owners while opening a Pharmacy or Chemist Shop. 

Commonly asked questions are:

• Am I eligible to give my license after my Pharmacy Education?
• How many Chemist Shops or Pharmacies I can Open with my License?
• Can I give my license to more then one Medical Store?
• Can I pursue Job along with Chemist Shop?
• Can I open Pharmacy Store with Government Job Pharmacist License?
• Can one State Pharmacist open medical store in other State? etc
• Do I need Drug License as I am a Registered Pharmacist?
• Can’t I get Drug Retail license if I don’t have any pharmacy graduation or diploma.
• Do I need two drug license One for Wholesale and One for Retail?

For knowing answers of above questions, first we need to know about few technical terms i.e. Retail Drug License, Whole Sale Drug License, Pharmacist, Pharmacist Registration, Pharmacy and Chemist.

Read Related: What does it mean by Compounding, Dispensing, Patient counselling and Pharmaceutical Care?

Retail Drug License: Retail Drug License is a certificate issued by Drug Control Office appointed by state government to conduct sale, purchase, stock, exhibit of medicines and drugs at retail basis under supervision of a registered pharmacist.

Wholesale Drug License: Wholesale Drug License is a certificate issued by Drug Control Office appointed by state government to conduct sale, purchase, stock, exhibit of medicine and drugs at wholesale basis under supervision of a competent person.

Read Related: Difference Between Wholesaler and Retailer

Pharmacist: Pharmacist is a person who has at least diploma, degree and/or doctor of pharmacy qualification.

Registered Pharmacist: Registered Pharmacist is a person who possessed above mentioned qualification and his/her name is registered under State Pharmacy Council as a Pharmacist as per drug and cosmetic act & rules.

Pharmacy and Chemist Shops: These are the name of retail counters of medicines and related substances who possess a retail license and require service of a registered pharmacist.

Read Related: Difference between Pharmacy and Chemist/Druggist?

Most of Pharmacists use word license while communicating about his/her eligibility as a authorized person to conduct operation at Pharmacy and Chemist Shop. Here we want to confirm that its not a license. Its only your registration. License is provided by Drug Control office for opening Retail or wholesale of medicine for that you are eligible as a competent person after your Pharmacy Qualification. Your pharmacy qualification is not a license.

Even without Registration as a Pharmacist under State Pharmacy Council of concern state where you want to pursue your carrier or business, you are not eligible as a authority to conduct all activity in Pharmacy and Chemist Shop. That’s the answer of question number one listed above.

You are not eligible only after your pharmacy education to become competent person for opening pharmacy and chemist shop or pursue your job as a pharmacist until you register your name under state pharmacy council of concern state.

Now come to more questions:

First we want to confirm that you don’t have any license, you have only registration as a pharmacist. When you attach your registration and pharmacy qualification certificates with any retail drug license, that’s mean you are working there as a full time employee.

In simple words, when you give your license (i.e. registration certificate) to any pharmacy or chemist shop, you become his/her full time employee. Full time employee means Eight hour working. According to law, a person can do full time job at only one place. Part time you can do but as a part timer, you can’t be competent person at any other retail shop. That’s mean you can only give your license (i.e. registration) at only one chemist and pharmacy shop.

As a Government Pharmacist, you are a full time pharmacist employee for government, same is applicable here that we discussed above.

Few queries we received from our readers are related to opening pharmacy business in state other than where they are registered as a pharmacist. If you have same query then there is simple method to do it.

A Pharmacist is eligible to register his/her name under any state pharmacy council. You can register your name under concern state pharmacy council where you want to start your own pharmacy business but for that you have to leave registration of previous state pharmacy council before applying for registration in another state pharmacy council register. Without migrating pharmacy registration, you can’t conduct pharmacy business in other states.

Now come to the question asked by our reader about opening retail drug store without having pharmacy education.

Without pharmacist, you can’t get any retail drug license. If you or your partner don’t have any pharmacy qualification and you want to open retail drug store then you need to hire a pharmacist as a full time employee. Some person hire pharmacist at part time basis (In simple word, rent a pharmacist registration) but it is illegal under drug and cosmetic act. A single medicine can’t be dispensed in the absence of pharmacist. A pharmacy and chemist shop should only conduct medicine related business till pharmacist is present there.

If you want to do wholesale and retail drug store in single premises, then you need to apply for wholesale plus retail drug license. Requirements and documents will be same, only space required will need extra.

Hope above information is helpful to you….

For any query and suggestion, you can write us at pharmafranchiseehelp@gmail.com