Punjab’s bold “War Against Drugs” may be making headlines, but beneath the surface, a far more pernicious crisis is brewing: a sprawling network of illegal pharmacies that evade tax, dispense dangerous medicines without proper billing, and operate under fraudulent or expired licences. These rogue chemists are not just undermining public health, they are bleeding Punjab’s revenue and sabotaging the very anti-drug campaign the government claims to champion.
Illegal Pharmacies in Punjab: Massive Licence Suspensions
In a dramatic crackdown, the Punjab Food & Drug Administration (FDA) suspended 455 chemist and wholesaler licences between January and May 2024, as reported by The Indian Express. The suspensions were not for trivial paperwork errors, but for serious violations, notably, failure to maintain proper sales and purchase records under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act. This is a red flag: if pharmacies don’t record their purchases and sales, how can regulators track their transactions or ensure medicines are dispensed lawfully?
According to the same report, 12 licences were canceled in that period, not just suspended, indicating that many violators are not being given just a slap on the wrist, but permanently shut down. That level of enforcement should be applauded, yet also raises a troubling question: how did so many non-compliant pharmacies exist in the first place?
How Tax Evasion in Punjab’s Drug Market Works
One of the most dangerous and underreported aspects of this crisis is widespread billing fraud. Many chemists in Punjab are reportedly selling medicines without issuing invoices or bills, especially for high-margin or habit-forming drugs. Such unbilled sales create a parallel cash-only economy that evades taxation and regulatory scrutiny.
When pharmacies don’t document transactions properly, they not only cheat the tax system, but also make it impossible to track the flow of dangerous drugs. This severely undermines Punjab’s war on addiction. The government’s raids and suspensions show that this is not just occasional non-compliance, it’s a pattern.
Pregabalin: Punjab’s New Pharmaceutical Menace
Pregabalin, a neurological medicine, has become alarmingly popular in illicit pharmacy circuits. According to Economic Times Pharma, Punjab’s FDA cancelled the licences of 12 manufacturing or retail firms, suspended 46 others, and filed 11 legal cases related to pregabalin misuse. Authorities also issued a February 2025 directive requiring detailed reporting of pregabalin sales above a certain threshold, a sign that the state is finally recognizing how deeply this drug is misused.
But even regulatory measures are catching up slowly. Despite the bans and monitoring, many chemists reportedly continue to dispense high-dose pregabalin, often off the books, contributing to a growing “addiction crisis”. This is not simply pharmaceutical crime, it’s a public health catastrophe that threatens to spiral out of control.
Fake Pharmacy Licences in Punjab: A Growing Scandal
The scale of corruption in pharmacy licensing is staggering. The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) arrested nine chemists for obtaining D-Pharmacy licences fraudulently, in collusion with the Punjab State Pharmacy Council (PSPC). These chemists allegedly bribed private colleges and council officials for forged 10+2 certificates and fake D-Pharmacy credentials. Every single one of those arrested now runs a medical shop, according to a Tribune report.
Further deepening the scandal, the VB also arrested two former registrars of the PSPC and a superintendent for facilitating fake pharmacy certificates. As noted in another report by The Tribune, their collusion meant that thousands of unqualified candidates obtained pharmacy registration, compromising public safety.
According to Hindustan Times, investigators uncovered that over “143 fake pharmacy certificates” were issued between 2005 and 2022. This isn’t just a licensing failure; it’s regulatory capture. When untrained or unqualified individuals run drugstores, the risk to patients, especially in the sale of controlled or habit-forming medication, multiplies.
The True Cost: Revenue Loss, Public Health, and Erosion of Trust
Every pharmacy that fails to issue proper bills deprives the Punjab government of critical tax revenue. While the state hasn’t publicly disclosed the exact quantum of this loss, the scale of licence suspensions, hundreds in just a few months, strongly suggests that the evasion is massive.
Unbilled sales of prescription or controlled medicines not only erode GST or sales tax revenue, but also create a black-market channel for high-risk drugs. The result is a dual blow: Punjab loses state funds that could be used for rehabilitation or public health programs, while patients and communities bear the cost in addiction, misuse, and potential overdose.
Raids Are Not Enough, Punjab Needs a Fundamental Overhaul
Raids, licence cancellations, and high-profile arrests are essential, but they won’t solve the root problem. As much as we must applaud the government’s aggressive enforcement under the War Against Drugs, the scale and persistence of the pharmacy crisis demand structural reform.
- Mandatory digital billing and e-invoicing: Every pharmacy should issue e-bills that are linked to a central database, making it impossible to run cash-only “shadow” operations.
- Real-time prescription and sales tracking: Especially for high-risk drugs like pregabalin, tramadol, and other habit-forming substances, Punjab must enforce real-time reporting of prescription data.
- Stringent license audits: The PSPC should be reformed, with full background checks and regular audits of pharmacist credentials, no more fake diplomas.
- Blacklisting repeat violators: Pharmacies caught repeatedly in raids or licence fraud should be publicly blacklisted and permanently debarred.
- Public transparency. The FDA must publish regular reports on pharmacy inspections, suspensions, cancellations, and enforcement actions, so citizens and civil society can monitor progress.
Without these reforms, Punjab’s War on Drugs risks being a performative exercise, a cycle of raids and media headlines, but with illegal chemist shops simply resurfacing under new names and licences.
Why This Matters: Beyond Crime, It’s About Public Health
Cheating on licences and evading tax isn’t a victimless crime, it has real consequences for ordinary Punjabis. When unlicensed or fake-qualified chemists run shops, the risk of dispensing incorrect doses, selling addictive medicines without medical supervision, or distributing sub-standard or falsified drugs becomes much higher.
Moreover, the misuse of drugs like pregabalin is not just a regulatory issue, it is a public health emergency. People who buy such medicines without prescriptions may get hooked, overdose, or suffer long-term side effects. All this while the state loses important revenue which could have been used to fund de-addiction centres, mental health services, and public education campaigns.
Punjab Must Target the Pharmacy Network If It Wants to Win the War
Punjab’s war against drug trafficking is courageous and necessary. But if the state ignores the corruption, tax evasion, and illegality within its own pharmacy system, then that war is half-won.
Illegal chemists who operate without billing, dispense addictive medicines, or hold fraudulent licences are not collateral damage, they are central to the drug problem. Punjab must clean up its pharmacy sector with as much vigor as it goes after traffickers.
Only a structural overhaul, not just raids, can shut down the parallel, unregulated drug economy thriving within its borders. The health of Punjab’s people and the integrity of its public finances depend on it.
