AIOCD urges govt to allow drug wholesalers to accept old currency notes of Rs. 500 & 1000 to ensure smooth supply of medicines to patients

• The organisation has submitted a memorandum to the ministry in this regard recently.
• The Government of India has allowed both government and private medical stores to accept old currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 from consumers till November 24. But it has not extended such benefits to drug wholesalers who supply medicines to retailers. 
• Retail chemists in rural areas mostly make cash payments to wholesalers to supply medicines. A number of them do not have bank accounts to make cashless payment. Now it is not possible to open new bank accounts as banks are now burdened with the task of exchange of demonetized currency and distribution of new currency, said AIOCD general secretary Suresh Gupta.
• On the other hand, wholesalers cannot accept old currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 from drug retailers as the government has not allowed them to do so. This has affected supply of medicines in several rural areas as retailers could not make payment to wholesalers in new currency to purchase medicines. The supply of paediatric and antibiotic drugs which are in high demand in rural areas has been affected due to the demonetization. This has taken a toll on rural patients. If this continues, a lot of rural patients will be left high and dry, he added. 
• The Centre had withdrawn legal tender character of the notes in denominations of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 from midnight of November 8 and allowed only government medical stores to accept scrapped notes. Later it allowed private medical stores to accept old notes till November 24 following request by AIOCD.
• But the government has not allowed drug wholesalers to accept old currency notes from retail chemists affecting availability of medicines in several rural areas. We have submitted a memorandum to finance secretary appealing him to allow wholesalers to accept old notes from retailers to ensure undisrupted medicine supply, said Gupta.

Aiocd, patients