The consumer affairs ministry could soon issue an advisory to the pharmaceutical sector that will stop chemists from compelling consumers to buy the full blister pack of a medicine when a smaller quantity is needed. “If someone needs just three tablets, why should they buy the entire strip,” an official from the department of consumer affairs told ET, requesting not to be named.

The department communicated this to representatives of the pharmaceutical sector at a meeting last week. An advisory to this effect could be issued soon, the official cited earlier said.

Chemists say giving away a few pills from a blister pack gives rise to the problem of the remaining portion of the pack not having the batch number, manufacturing and expiration date.

To fix this problem, the ministry has recommended modifying the packaging of medicines and having easy-to-remove sections in the blister packs marked with perforations, with each bearing the expiry date and other essential information.

“While the cost of it may be high, but once all companies start doing it, it will come down,” the official said. The move follows the numerous complaints the department received from consumers about chemists insisting on selling an entire pack when a smaller quantity was needed or prescribed.

Jagannath Sakharam Shinde, chairman of All Indian Origin Chemists & Distributors (AIOCD), said “cut-strips” are a problem for retailers as they mostly don’t have batch number, manufacturing and expiration date written on them. “It is an offense to stock medicine without these important details,” Shinde said. These cut-strips have to be discarded as expired medicines go back to the wholesaler and then to the manufacturer for proper disposal.

“Cutting medicines packed in very small packs is also a problem as sometimes it leads to exposure of medicine,” he added.