Under the Sale of Goods Act, the term ‘sale’ is defined as ‘a contract for sale of goods is a contract whereby the seller transfers or agrees to transfer the property in goods to the buyer for a price’.
The drugs reach the consumers from the manufacturers by retail through shopkeepers. Manufacturers generally sell their goods to the stockiest who in turn sell the same to the shopkeepers.
This transaction between the stockiest and the shopkeepers is the wholesale. Under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1987 ‘wholesaler” means a dealer or his agent, or a stockiest appointed by a manufacturer or an importer for the sale of his drugs to a retailer; and a retailer means a dealer carrying on the retail business of sale of drugs to customers.
Sale of drugs being a specialized job, different from the sale of common goods, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Rules there under provide for a licence for the purpose. If drugs are sold or stocked for sale at more than one place, separate licence should be taken in respect of each such place.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
However, this is not applicable to itinerant (travelling from place to place) vendors. For the purposes of issuing licences, the State Government is empowered to appoint Licensing Authority (LA) for specified areas. A LA may, with the written approval of the State Government, delegate the powers to sign licences and other specified powers to any person under his control.