India Pharma Outlook Team | Saturday, 16 May 2026
Karnataka has taken a giant leap in public health governance by launching its drug monitoring portal that automatically blocks the sale of substandard medicines.
The portal was launched by Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday. Until now, the substandard medicines were dealt with in a highly reactive way. By the time a drug sample was collected, tested and declared Not of Standard Quality (NSQ), it had already spread deep into the supply chain.
There was no structured mechanism to recall the batches, and hence it could be purchased and sold to patients. This initiative addresses that systematic gap.
The officials shared that the Food Safety and Drug Administration Department had recalled medicines worth Rs 1.85 Cr in the year 2025-2026.
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The portal, developed by the Food Safety and Drug Administration department, works by integrating directly with the databases of wholesalers and stockists.
The moment a batch is declared as substandard, instant alerts will be sent to all linked wholesalers and retailers. The batch also becomes automatically locked, and all the stocks held in warehouses, distribution chains and stockist inventories get frozen in real time. This will automatically stop the sales of such low-grade medicines.
Dinesh Gundu Rao stated that around 15,000 stockists are part of the system and said that, “We will bring in about 45,000 retailers and pharmacists into the database. For now, at the wholesale and stockist level, this system will completely block the sale of such medicines. Those batches will have to be returned, and the companies concerned will be held responsible. The recall process will happen in real time".
"Once testing and verification are completed and the drug is proven substandard, we can instantly alert the entire state. Every stock point holding that batch will be frozen immediately. Even if someone wishes to continue selling it, they will not be able to do so. The process will stop automatically," he said.
Beyond tracking and tackling substandard drugs, the portal also monitors narcotic and psychotropic substances regulated under the NDPS Act.
Previously, pharmacies selling such medicines only maintained physical records containing patients name, doctor’s name and prescription.
Under the new system, every sale of a narcotic or psychotropic drug must be uploaded onto the portal, creating a live, analysable data dashboard. Hence, the authorities will have live data enabling them to identify if any doctor is prescribing or a patient is purchasing a large amount of drugs.
Stressing this major reform, Roa said "As far as I know, no other state in the country has introduced such a system. Karnataka is introducing it today."
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