The GST on medicines came down from September 22, but prices haven’t followed suit in many cases, almost three weeks later.
Most small medicine shops in Calcutta and adjoining areas — the neighbourhood pharmacies people regularly visit — are yet to implement the revised GST rates.
A south Calcutta resident went to his neighbourhood pharmacy on Sunday to buy the monthly medicine supply for himself and his family.
“I was expecting to pay less compared to what I used to. But I ended up paying the exact amount for the same medicine,” he said. “I asked the store owner why he wasn’t charging the revised price. The man said he still had old stock purchased at the earlier GST rates.”
Many customers have reported similar experiences, with medicine stores claiming they still have old inventory. Some pharmacies also say they have yet to receive any formal circular about the rate revision.
The GST Council has eliminated tax on 33 life-saving drugs, which earlier attracted 12% GST. Three critical medicines used in cancer treatment and for rare diseases have seen a tax cut from 5% to nil. For all other medicines, the GST has been slashed from 12% to 5%.
The decision came into effect on September 22.
“I am yet to receive new stock with revised GST rates from stockists. I have a small store, and my capital is also small. If I have to bear the loss from my pocket, then it will be difficult to run the business,” said a pharmacy owner in Kasba.
He added that fresh stock had started arriving from Tuesday. “The stockist has said he will take back the unsold old stock after December 31,” the pharmacy owner said.
Another medicine store owner in south Calcutta said his stockist attributed the delay in supplying fresh stock to the heavy rain that recently flooded Calcutta and the festive season.
“I am expecting the fresh stock with reduced GST within a couple of days. Till then, I have to sell at the old GST rates. I already give a 10% discount on medicines, and any further discount will make my business unviable,” he said.
However, the Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association said no medicine store should charge the old GST rates.
“For 15 days since the Centre announced the revised GST rates, we have been holding virtual and physical meetings with our members, making them aware that even if they have old stock, they are bound to sell those at the new, reduced rates. We sent advisories to our 40,000 members regarding this,” Prithwi Bose, general secretary of the Bengal Chemists and Druggists Association, told Metro on Wednesday.
“If someone is selling the medicines at old prices, that is wrong,” he added.
Price fall in hospitals
Several hospitals said they were passing on the benefit of the revised GST to both admitted patients and customers at their hospital pharmacies.
“From September 22, we are complying with the new GST rates. Even though we are still selling old stock, we are charging the revised rates to customers at our hospital pharmacy, despite the old MRP,” said Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Peerless Hospital. “We are deducting the differential amount while selling the old stock to customers.”
The Narayana Health group of hospitals has started receiving new stock.
“More than 50% of our current inventory is newer stock with revised GST. But the remainder is older stock from before the change. So our treatment for them remains the same in terms of passing the differential GST as discounts,” said R Venkatesh, group COO of Narayana Health.
“Since it is difficult to differentiate old and new stock at this stage, we are passing the benefit of the differential GST as discounts even for the new stock with revised GST. This will continue till this weekend, by which time we will have all new inventory and the prices of all these stocks uploaded in the system with revised rates,” he said.
Manufacturers’ push
Several major pharmaceutical manufacturers have sent emails to stockists and retailers, asking them to implement revised GST rates and noting that they have already revised the MRPs.
“Following the reduction in GST rates effective September 22, 2025, we have accordingly revised the Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) of our products. The updated MRP, Price to Stockist (PTS), Price to Retailer (PTR) and applicable GST rates have been annexed,” one leading manufacturer wrote to its customers.
“This revision is in line with the rollout of GST 2.0 and we request you to share this update with all your customers and ensure that the benefit of reduced MRPs is passed on to patients.”