As 'Substandard' Medicine Alerts Rise Sharply, Medkart Pharmacy Promotes Radical Transparency
Medicine quality has become one of the country’s most closely watched health stories – and Medkart Pharmacy says the right response is not to fear generics, but to demand proof. The generic-medicine retail chain is putting its Medkart Assured quality program at the centre of a new transparency push, including a commitment to publish what it tests, what it rejects, and how.
 |
Only Schedule M compliant WHO GMP certified medicines at Medkart
The backdrop is hard to ignore. Data from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) shows that 1,879 drug samples were declared Not of Standard Quality in 2025 — more than double the 877 reported in 2024 – prompting the regulator to tighten its sampling and reporting rules. The monthly alerts have spanned widely used categories, including antibiotics, cardiovascular and anti-diabetic medicines and injectables, alongside spurious and counterfeit batches. Officials have stressed that each finding relates to specific tested batches rather than the wider market, but the trend has understandably sharpened public attention on how medicines are vetted before they reach a patient.
That attention lands on an existing anxiety. A 2025 study published in a peer-reviewed clinical pharmacology journal found that patients often harbour doubts about the safety and effectiveness of generic medicines – particularly in oncology and cardiovascular care — with inconsistent communication and limited manufacturer-level visibility cited as key barriers to trust. It is precisely this gap that Medkart Assured was built to close.
We don’t ask patients to trust us – we show them why they can. Independent audits, two rounds of third-party testing, and only then the Medkart Assured tag. We would rather publish our rejection rate than hide behind a logo. – Parasharan Chari, Co-founder, Medkart Pharmacy.
Under the Medkart Assured program, procurement is aligned with Schedule M of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act – the regulation that sets Good Manufacturing Practice standards for pharmaceutical production. Medkart independently audits the plants of its partner manufacturers, and every product undergoes compulsory dual testing at NABL-accredited third-party laboratories. Only after a product clears these thresholds does it earn the ‘Medkart Assured’ tag, shown both in-store and online. In parallel, the company’s pharmacists are trained not merely to dispense but to explain quality differences and answer patients’ doubts, and its in-app comparison tool helps patients make informed choices.
Building on that program, Medkart says it intends to publish a Medkart Assured Quality & Transparency Report – setting out the volume of batches tested, the proportion rejected, the therapy areas covered and the testing protocol followed. A quality disclosure of this kind from a pharmacy retailer is rare in India, and Medkart frames it as an open invitation to scrutiny rather than a request for blind faith.
The country is rightly worried about medicine quality. The answer is not to fear generics – it is to demand proof. We are putting our proof on the table and inviting everyone to raise the bar with us. – Ankur Agarwal, Co-founder, Medkart Pharmacy.
Medkart is careful to position the move as a standard for the category rather than a verdict on any individual manufacturer or competitor. Its message to patients, the company says, is simple: affordability and safety should never be a trade-off – and the way to prove it is to show the work.
Notes to editors – sources
-
CDSCO – 1,879 NSQ samples in 2025 vs 877 in 2024; tightened sampling rules – Outlook India
-
CDSCO monthly NSQ alert detail (categories affected) – Medical Dialogues
-
Medkart Assured – Schedule M, plant audits, dual NABL testing; founder quotes – The Bengal
