Case Ordered Against Snapdeal Ceo For Allegedly Selling Medicines Onli

[manjunath455]

MUMBAI:  Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Administration or FDA has ordered that a first information report be filed against Kunal Bahl, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of e-commerce giant Snapdeal, for allegedly selling medicines, including prescription drugs, online, Press Trust of India reports.

 

Here are the latest developments:

1. The FDA had, in April, raided the premises of Snapdeal in Mumbai in connection with the case.
2. The FDA said it had received specific information about the sale of a cough syrup and certain tablets, both prescription drugs.
3. "A notice was issued to the company and it was asked to furnish details of the drugs offered for sale, distribution and exhibited for sale on their website Snapdeal.com," FDA Commissioner Harshdeep Kamble had said.
4. In a statement, the company had said it had de-listed the drugs on its portal. "...upon receiving the notice, we have delisted the products and provided all information to the FDA team... We are assisting the FDA team in this investigation," a company spokesperson had said.
5. "We shared the details of our fulfillment centre as required by the FDA team. Upon their visit to the fulfillment center, they have not found any such product," the Snapdeal spokesperson had said.
6. The law mandates that only a licensed retailer can sell drugs, and that too only when a doctor's prescription is furnished, Mr Kamble said, adding, "Snapdeal certainly cannot act like a doctor or pharmacist."
7. Sale of drugs online is not allowed as self-medication may be harmful to patients, the Commissioner said.
8. Snapdeal had been asked to furnish details of people, medical stores and companies involved and documents such as agreements, invoices, payment details, etc. for the drugs it had listed on the site.
9. The FDA is now also looking into whether other e-retailers have sold drugs online.
10. Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate, launched Snapdeal in February 2010. India's second biggest e-tailer behind Flipkart, Snapdeal is being funded by Japan's SoftBank among others. SoftBank invested around $627 million (around Rs. 3,900 crore) in Snapdeal last year, the biggest investment by a single investor in the e-commerce sector in India.