Show cause notice issued to 125 medical shops for illegal sale of habit-forming drugs

Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs sleuths checking the stocks of a medical shop on Wednesday.

The Telangana Standards Authority for Food and Essential Drugs (TG SAFE) has detected violations in 125 medical shops across Hyderabad and other districts of the State during a special enforcement drive against the illegal sale and diversion of habit-forming drugs.

The raids were conducted on Wednesday in parts of Medchal and Serilingampally, with the drugs wing of TG SAFE working alongside enforcement wing police personnel.

The enforcement drive focused on the indiscriminate sale of prescription medicines, particularly drugs classified under Schedule H1 and Schedule X of the Drugs Rules. These included Tramadol, Alprazolam, Nitrazepam, Codeine-containing cough syrups, Tapentadol, Pregabalin and Zolpidem, among others.

Officials conducted decoy operations and test purchases at medical shops to check whether habit-forming drugs were being sold without valid prescriptions. During the inspections, several violations were detected, including the sale of prescription medicines without prescriptions issued by registered medical practitioners, failure to maintain mandatory prescription and Schedule H1 registers, and dispensing medicines in the absence of a registered pharmacist.

Other irregularities included selling medicines without issuing bills, failure to maintain or produce sales and purchase bills, and discrepancies in the records of drug transactions.

TG SAFE has issued show-cause notices to all 125 medical shops where violations were detected. Further action, including suspension or cancellation of drug licences, would be initiated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the rules framed under it, they added.

Published - November 11, 2026 07:55 pm IST