Soon, a Simple QR Scan Will Reveal If Your Medicine Is Genuine
In a major push to protect patients from counterfeit and substandard medicines, the Central Government has introduced a digital track-and-trace system that will allow people to verify the authenticity of critical medicines within seconds using a barcode or QR code on the packaging.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has amended the Drugs Rules, 1945, expanding the scope of Schedule H-2 to cover several important categories of medicines, including vaccines, anti-cancer drugs, antimicrobial medicines and medicines regulated under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Once the new system is implemented, patients, pharmacists and healthcare professionals will be able to scan a QR code with a mobile phone and instantly access essential information about a medicine. This will include the product’s unique identification code, generic and brand names, manufacturer details, batch number, manufacturing and expiry dates, licence information and other relevant details.
The government believes the initiative will bring greater transparency to the pharmaceutical supply chain and make it much harder for fake medicines to enter the market. By allowing real-time verification, the system is expected to help consumers identify genuine products and enable regulators to trace suspicious medicines more efficiently.
To give pharmaceutical companies time to adapt, the rollout will be implemented in phases. QR codes will become mandatory for vaccines, anti-cancer medicines and NDPS-related drugs from July 1, 2027. The requirement will then be extended to antimicrobial medicines from July 1, 2028.
Under the new rules, manufacturers must print the barcode or QR code on the primary packaging of medicines. If space is limited, the code may be placed on the secondary packaging. Beyond serving as a product identifier, the QR code will act as a digital gateway to detailed information about the medicine.
Officials say the track-and-trace mechanism has been designed to monitor the movement of medicines throughout the supply chain—from manufacturing units to pharmacies and ultimately to patients. This enhanced traceability is expected to strengthen quality control, improve regulatory oversight and help curb the circulation of counterfeit and poor-quality drugs.
With India being one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical producers, the Centre sees the initiative as an important step towards improving patient safety and building greater trust in the medicines people depend on every day. As the healthcare sector embraces digital solutions, a quick scan of a medicine pack may soon become a powerful tool in ensuring that patients receive genuine and safe treatment.
