Mumbai: ‘How will the customers know about discounts if we do not advertise it?’

MSPC issued a public notice on Thursday. Representation pic

The Maharashtra State Pharmacy Council (MSPC) issued a public notice on Thursday stating that some medical shop owners are violating fair trade practices by displaying discount boards and advertising such incentives on social media. "Registered pharmacists are expected to object to such activity. This act is immoral and illegal as per chapters 7 and 8 of Pharmacy Practice Regulations 2015 framed under the provisions of the Pharmacy Act 1948," the MSPC notice reads.

Even as this benefits consumers, the rationale is that while big businesses will profit from such advertisements, it can lead to unhealthy competition with smaller pharmacists who may not be able to provide heavy discounts to everybody.

Several crucial and affordable health facilities are saturated in and around the city's F-South ward, along with them there is also the dominance of medical shops and diagnostic centres one after the other. They make profits as the hospitals frequently run out of medicines or do not keep stocks of medicines prescribed to the patients.

Just opposite KEM Hospital, which caters to thousands of patients daily, is a Manish Medical Stores. Speaking to mid-day, the store manager said, "Big businesses or chain medical shops purchase everything in much more quantities than we do. Their margins are different from ours. So, they can afford to provide hefty discounts. Even as we are situated right opposite this hospital and cater to a big crowd, it is not enough to provide big discounts and keep the shop running."

He added the store still provides about a five per cent discount to patients now and then. "Sometimes patients tell us they are short of a couple of hundred and we let it slide because they are in an emergency. Many times it has happened that there has been an emergency case and a stranger took the medicine saying they would pay later but never did. We are fine with that but big businesses are not," he said.

Most medical shops near the hospital do not have discount boards. "We do not put boards but provide a 5 per cent discount on purchases of R500 and above, 10 per cent on Rs 1,000 and above and max is 15 per cent discount for purchases of more than Rs 3,000," said a store manager at Wellness, a chain medical store.

Meanwhile, just a little ahead of KEM is Royal Chemist, outside which is a large advertising board announcing up to 20 per cent to 24 per cent discount on medicines, 45 per cent to 90 per cent discount on surgical products and 4 per cent to 20 per cent discount on general products. Its store manager Premchandra Mishra said, "The owner has asked us to put this board here. How will customers know about the discount if we do not advertise it?"

In other areas, like Lower Parel, most medical shops did not offer any discounts to patients but chain medical stores like Nobel Plus did where one of its outlets had a board advertising their app and the offers and discounts on its products. The employees at Royal Chemist as well as Nobel Plus were unaware of the violation.

5%
Discounts provided by some pharmacies for purchases of Rs 500