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70th DCC Meeting: Major changes in Pharma policy in India

October 7, 2026

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Last Updated on October 7, 2026 by The Health Master

70th DCC Meeting

The 70th Drugs Consultative Committee meeting (DCC meeting), chaired by Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drugs Controller General (India), has introduced a series of transformative recommendations aimed at tightening regulatory oversight and ensuring public safety.

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Held on September 18, 2026, the meeting addressed critical issues ranging from the digital tracking of high-risk medicines to new infrastructure mandates for retail pharmacies.

The meeting was held on hybrid mode at FDA Bhawan, New Delhi.

All the States and UTs have participated in the meeting by senior officials from drug controller’s office.

Download minutes of meeting of 70th DCC held on 18-09-2026

Major changes in Pharma policy

The meeting included discussions on enforcement, patient safety, digital governance and regulatory changes.

This article highlights on the outcomes and major changes in policy made during 70th DCC meeting.

Pediatric Safety: Red warning label on cough syrups

Another major issue discussed during 70th DCC meeting was related to safety of pediatric use of cough syrups.

There had been a growing concern of inappropriate use of cough syrups in children.

To ensure pediatric safety, DCC has taken action to enforce new labelling requirements by applying Rule 96 of the Drugs Rules, 1945.

Following changes have been made by DCC:

Boxed warning on labels and outer cartons for cough syrups in red color: “WARNING: Cough syrup shall not be used in children below 4 years of age.”
No usage of pictures of babies, toddlers, teddy bear, toys or anything which can suggest the use of cough syrup in children.
Font size for box warning to be improved to avoid confusions among pharmacists and parents

National Digital tracking and fight against spurious/NDPS drugs

Another major issue discussed during the meeting was related to diversion of drugs containing narcotic and psychotropic substances.

DCC has also discussed the issues related to spurious drugs.

These issues were discussed in the context of the Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-2029) approved during 10th Apex NCORD meeting.

DCC has identified issues related to drug diversion and suggested changes to be made to end this issue by March 2027.

The changes identified for this purpose are as follows:

CDSCO has started working on standardized reporting format for all the States and UTs. A monthly format will be shared by all States and UTs regarding production, sanctioned distribution, audits and seizures.
DCC has suggested evaluation and adoption of track and trace system from Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN) for implementing end to end drug tracking.
Implementation of National campaign against spurious drugs. In this, inputs from all states are being collated by CDSCO and a working group is being formed to coordinate action between drug regulators, state police, prosecution authorities, private testing labs and state regulators.

Ease of doing business: License retention via ONDLS

Retention of wholesaler and retailer licenses under Rule 63 of the Drugs Rules, 1945 had created issues for retailers and wholesalers in terms of ease of doing business.

DCC has taken action to overcome these issues by integrating it into digital system.

Changes made as per DCC are as follows:

Retention charges will now be paid through Online National Drugs Licensing System (ONDLS). After payment of retention charges an e-acknowledgement will be generated through ONDLS.
No requirement of retention certificate and multiple documentation that resembles license application during retention of license.
All offline state regulators are directed to connect to ONDLS to ensure uniformity across the country.

Summary of major changes made during 70th DCC meeting

Subject Area	Proposal Deliberated	DCC Verdict & Recommended Action
Mercurochrome / Merbromin	Phase-out of mercury antiseptics under the Minamata Convention.	DGHS clinical opinion and national usage data to be assessed before altering Schedule K.
Wholesale vs. Retail Ratio	Enforcing a fixed numerical ratio between wholesale and retail licences.	Rejected. State Licensing Authorities will regulate based on local geographical demands.
Sterile Drug Products	Bringing all sterile injectables/ophthalmics under the CLAA scheme.	Sub-committee constituted to assess regulatory feasibility and legal implications.
Disposal of Machinery	Tracking decommissioning of machines from non-compliant pharma units.	State Drugs Controller Rajasthan tasked with drafting an end-to-end scrap/lifecycle monitoring framework.
Mandatory COA Portals	Mandating public uploading of batch Certificates of Analysis by manufacturers.	Rejected in current form. Risk-based regulatory inspections and independent sampling prioritized over unverified uploads.
Shared QC Laboratories	Permitting a single testing lab for adjacent, separately licensed units.	Rejected. Common labs are allowed only between manufacturing blocks within the same licensed perimeter.
Medical Devices Rules	Amending Rule 30(1) to mandate stock destruction for severe violations.	Approved. Licensing authorities empowered to halt distribution and order destruction of substandard medical devices.
Testing Timelines	Slashing statutory testing deadlines from 60 days down to 15–30 days.	Maintained at 60 days. States urged to prioritize critical batches via internal SOPs and onboard the SUGAM Labs portal.

Harmonization of Rules and Governance in Homoeopathy DCC has also addressed issues of ambiguities in some areas of governance like:

Homoeopathic wholesale licenses (Form 20D). A change is being made in this license as the ONDLS requires technical qualifications which are not mentioned in Drugs Rules, 1945. These qualifications will be incorporated in the rules in near future.
Change in Rule 49 related to experience and recognized degrees of Homoeopathy for inspectors visiting homoeopathic establishments. This change is in principle.
Change in definition of change in constitution in Rule 2 of Drugs Rules, 1945. The definitions mentioned in Cosmetics Rules, 2020 and Medical Devices Rules, 2017 are being incorporated in this rule. This will also encompass change in ownership, addition and deletion of partner.

Improvement in quality surveillance – NSQ disclosure and SUGAM labs

At the end of the meeting, DCGI Dr. Raghuvanshi discussed on quality surveillance and enforcement.

DCC has continued the provision of 60 days for quality reports due to complexity of tests and laboratory testing capacity.

However, laboratories are being directed to streamline their testing.

To avoid delay in analytical testing caused by drug maker’s provision of testing methods, government laboratories are directed to get testing methods from CDSCO product dossier.

All state labs are now being connected to the new SUGAM labs. This will provide real time tracking of product quality.

Monthly list of Not of Standard Quality (NSQ) will also be made available on CDSCO national website.

Disclaimer: This article contains information obtained from the source mentioned below. Our team made changes in the format to rewrite and present the news or article in a unique format.

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