Centre Orders For Mandatory QR Code on Medicines for Easy Detection of Fake Meds

New Delhi, 1st August 2023: The Central Government’s mandated bar code or rapid response (QR) code on 300 medicine brands to assist easy identification of the name, brand and expiry date takes effect today (August 1).

The Government of India had published the names of 300 leading brands of medications in the country in a gazette notification on November 17. The notification stated that these pharmaceutical companies should have a bar code or QR code with some key details on their medications by August 1, 2023.

The decision was made for the benefit of purchasers, who can now simply confirm whether a certain medicine purchased from any of these 300 brands is genuine or not. They can also examine the date of manufacture and the expiry date of the medicines.

The Drugs Control General of India (DCGI) has issued strict directions to pharmaceutical corporations to follow the instructions. With the regulations in place, prominent drug brands such as Allegra, Shelcal, Calpol, Dolo, and Meftal, among others, will be required to include a bar code or QR code on their medications. The DGCI has plainly said that if drug companies do not comply with these regulations, they would face severe fines.

The notification read, “The manufacturers of drug formulation products as specified in Schedule H2 shall print or affix Bar Code or Quick Response Code on its primary packaging label or, in case of inadequate space in primary package label, on the secondary package label that store data or information legible with software application to facilitate authentication.”

According to the notification, when the code is scanned, the following information about the drugs should be displayed:

Unique product identification code
Proper and generic Name of the drug
Brand name
Name and address of the manufacturer
Batch number
Date of manufacturing
Date of expiry
Manufacturing licence number.

The Central Government has taken this measure to halt the growth of the counterfeit medication sector in the country. To do this, the government changed the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, making it mandatory for pharmaceutical businesses to include a bar code/QR code on their brands.