Medical shops across India will remain shut today as the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists Association has called for a nationwide strike against online sale of drugs.

Chemists said they would protest any move by the Centre to allow sale of medicines via internet or e-pharmacies to operate in India in any form.

It was observed that online players were violating provisions of the Drug Act and no visible action was taken against them by the authorities concerned, chemists claimed.

The Centre's draft notification on e-pharmacies says: "Any person who intends to conduct business of e-pharmacy shall apply for the grant of registration to the Central Licensing Authority in Form 18AA through the online portal of the Central government." However, sale of tranquillisers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics and habit forming drugs have been prohibited through these portals. There are more than nine lakh retail and wholesale chemists throughout the country.

In support of the nationwide strike called by the AIOCD to protest online sale of drugs, more than 12,000 chemists and wholesalers in the city will keep their shops closed on October 14 and participate in a protest at Jantar Mantar.