Shops selling medicines across Tirupati downed shutters on Wednesday as chemists and drug distributors joined the nationwide bandh call given by the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists, intensifying protests against unregulated e-pharmacy operations and alleged predatory pricing practices in the pharmaceutical sector.

The shutdown was spearheaded by the Andhra Pradesh Chemists and Druggists Association, Tirupati District Chemists and Druggists Association and Tirupati Chemists and Druggists Association, with participation from the Balaji Pharmaceutical Distribution Association and local Chamber of Commerce representatives.

Hundreds of traders and distributors marched through major commercial centres from Thyagaraja Mandapam before submitting a memorandum to the Revenue Divisional Officer at his office outlining their demands.

The protesting associations accused online pharmacy platforms of operating without adequate regulatory oversight, warning that the unchecked sale of medicines online had led to repeated use of prescriptions, circulation of fake or unverifiable prescriptions and easy access to antibiotics and habit-forming drugs. They cautioned that such practices could aggravate antimicrobial resistance and increase the risk of counterfeit or improperly stored medicines entering the supply chain.

The traders also demanded the immediate withdrawal of Central notifications GSR 220(E) of 2020 and GSR 817(E) of 2018, alleging that the measures had diluted long-standing safeguards governing prescription drug sales. They further alleged that deep discounting by large corporations was destabilising small chemists and encouraging monopolistic trends in the healthcare sector.