Heavy discounts, old prescriptions and 10-minute deliveries: Why thousands of pharmacies in Telangana are going on strike today

The strike call was given by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), raising concerns over unfair practices by online pharmacies and corporate medicine retail chains.

A 34-year-old IT employee residing in Hyderabad’s Madhapur area uploads an old prescription on a medicine delivery app late at night and receives antibiotics and BP tablets at nearly 30% discount within minutes. A few kilometres away, a neighbourhood chemist in Punjagutta who has been running his pharmacy for over three decades says he cannot afford to offer even a fraction of the discount. That growing clash between instant medicine delivery platforms and traditional pharmacies has now erupted into a nationwide call for a strike, with thousands of pharmacies across Telangana set to stay shut on Wednesday (May 20).

The strike call was given by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), raising concerns over unfair practices by online pharmacies and corporate medicine retail chains. In Telangana alone, around 45,000 pharmacies are expected to participate in the strike, with nearly 20,000 of them located in Hyderabad, according to T. Krishna Kumar, treasurer of the Telangana Chemists and Druggists Association (TCDA).

At the centre of the protest is the rapid rise of e-pharmacies and quick-commerce medicine delivery services, which pharmacists allege are operating with weak prescription checks, deep discounting practices and inadequate regulatory oversight.