An FIR has been filed against Snapdeal, its CEO Kunal Bahl and others after Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clamped down on the e-commerce major for online sale of prescription drugs.
FDA Commissioner Harshadeep Kamble said Snapdeal has been found to be selling these drugs despite its warnings and an earlier undertaking by the company to stop such sales, while investigations into other e-commerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon are on to ascertain if they were also involved in similar activities, Kamble said.
Soon after FDA orders, Navi Mumbai Police today filed an FIR against Snapdeal and Bahl among others.
The FIR has been filed against relevant sections of the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954 and the Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945.
Last month, FDA had raided premises of Snapdeal here following complaints about sale of medicines, including prescription drugs, through its website.
Kamble told reporters that FDA had ordered filing an FIR against all concerned persons, including Bahl, other directors and distributors of the drugs.
When contacted, a Snapdeal spokesperson said: "In this matter, we are assisting the FDA team in this investigation and we will continue to do so. We have already delisted the products and said sellers and also stopped payment, in addition to providing all information to the FDA team as required by them."
Kamble said Jasper Infotech, through Snapdeal.Com, offered for sale, exhibited for sale Vigora Tablets 100, a drug containing Sildenafil citrate, to be sold on prescription of a registered medical practitioner - specialist endocrinologist, venerologist, psychiatrist, dermatologist.
He said Jasper Infotech through Snapdeal.Com also exhibited and offered for sale UNWANTED-72 sold by Horizon Medicals, Bangalore, and I-pill, sold by Giriraj Pharmacy in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.
The offence attracts imprisonment of 3-5 years with a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh, he added.
