Drug license in India: forms, fees, area and how to apply

The quick answer

A drug license in India is a licence from your state drugs controller to sell, stock, exhibit or distribute medicines. A chemist shop needs a retail licence on Form 20 and Form 21; a stockist or distributor needs a wholesale licence on Form 20-B and Form 21-B. You apply online on Form 19, pay the fee (Delhi's official table lists ₹1,500 for each of these four licence forms), show premises of at least 10 square metres (15 square metres if you want retail and wholesale in the same place), name a registered pharmacist or a qualified "competent person", and wait for the drugs inspector's visit. Once granted, the licence no longer expires: you keep it alive by paying a retention fee every five years.

This guide is for people starting or expanding a medicine business and for the companies that sell to them: what each licence form allows, what the Drugs Rules 1945 actually require (and what consultants add on top), the documents, the steps and the official timelines, how to check that a buyer's or supplier's drug licence is genuine, and how many licensed chemists, distributors and pharma firms are in Starleads' data.

Which drug license do you need? The forms explained

"Drug license" is one word for more than a dozen licence forms in the Drugs Rules 1945. The Sales Licences page of the Drugs & Food Control Organisation, Jammu and Kashmir (checked on 8 November 2026) lists them all, and Rule 61 of the Drugs Rules sets out which drugs each form covers. The split is by two questions: retail or wholesale, and which schedule the medicines fall in. Schedule C lists biological and special products such as sera, vaccines, insulin, injectables and eye preparations; Schedule C(1) adds other special products, including antibiotics, vitamins and hormones taken by mouth. Schedule X covers narcotic and psychotropic drugs that need the tightest control.

Licence form	What it allows	Who usually holds it	Application form
Form 20	Retail sale of drugs other than Schedule C, C(1) and X	Every chemist and medical store	Form 19
Form 21	Retail sale of Schedule C and C(1) drugs (not X)	Chemists who stock injectables, eye drops, oral antibiotics, vitamins (almost all take 20 and 21 together)	Form 19
Form 20-A / 21-A	Restricted retail licence, only for the drugs named in it, without a pharmacist	General stores in places with no chemist, itinerant vendors in rural areas	Form 19-A
Form 20-B	Wholesale sale of drugs other than Schedule C, C(1) and X	Stockists, distributors, super stockists, C&F agents	Form 19
Form 21-B	Wholesale sale of Schedule C and C(1) drugs	The same wholesalers, for injectables and biologicals	Form 19
Form 20-BB / 21-BB	Wholesale sale or distribution from a motor vehicle	Van-based distributors	Form 19-AA
Form 20-F / 20-G	Retail (20-F) and wholesale (20-G) sale of Schedule X drugs	Pharmacies and wholesalers handling narcotic and psychotropic drugs	Form 19-C
Form 20-C / 20-D	Retail (20-C) and wholesale (20-D) sale of homoeopathic medicines	Homoeopathic pharmacies and their distributors	Form 19-B

Three practical points follow from this table:

• A normal chemist applies for Form 20 and Form 21 together. Without Form 21 the shop cannot legally sell insulin, injectables, eye drops, or the antibiotics, vitamins and hormone tablets in Schedule C(1), which make up a large part of everyday prescriptions.
• A pharma distributor applies for Form 20-B and 21-B together, and adds 20-G only if a company appoints it for Schedule X products. J&K's 2026 wholesale manual, for instance, will not consider a 20-G application unless the drugs inspector certifies the firm's "good market standing".
• Each place of business needs its own licence. Rule 62 says that if drugs are sold or stocked at more than one place, a separate application and licence is needed for each place. A godown away from the shop is a separate place.

Manufacturing is a different set of licences (Forms 25 and 28 and their variants), issued after a joint inspection by state and central officers, and medical devices have their own rules. This guide covers sale licences, which is what most people searching "drug license" need.

What the rules require: premises, pharmacist and storage

Rule 64 of the Drugs Rules sets the conditions the licensing authority must be satisfied with before granting or renewing a sale licence. You can read it in the copy of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules published by the Government of Meghalaya (amended up to 15 August 2013; later amendments, such as the 2017 change to licence validity below, are not in it). The essentials:

• Premises area. At least 10 square metres for a retail licence (Form 20, 21 or both), at least 10 square metres for a wholesale licence (Form 20-B, 21-B or both), and at least 15 square metres if you want retail and wholesale licences in the same premises. Ten square metres is about 108 square feet, so a shop 3 metres by 3.5 metres qualifies. Licences granted before the 1997 amendment are exempt from the area rule.
• Proper storage. The premises must be "adequate, equipped with proper storage accommodation for preserving the properties of the drugs". In practice inspectors look for racks, protection from sun and damp and, if you will stock insulin or vaccines, a refrigerator. The rule itself does not list equipment, so treat consultants' lists of "mandatory" items as your inspector's expectations rather than law, and ask the local drugs control office if in doubt.
• A person in charge. For retail, a registered pharmacist (registered under the Pharmacy Act, 1948 with the state pharmacy council) must supervise every supply against a prescription. For wholesale, the "competent person" can be a registered pharmacist, or someone who passed matriculation and has four years' experience in selling drugs, or a graduate with one year's experience in dealing with drugs.
• Fitness of the applicant. The authority may refuse anyone convicted under the Act or whose licence was earlier cancelled or suspended. Delhi asks for an affidavit of non-conviction from every proprietor, partner or director.

States add their own conditions on top. Delhi's checklists say no drug licence is granted on a residential plot or flat unless it meets the Master Plan rules for commercial or mixed use. J&K requires CCTV cameras and computerised billing before it grants a wholesale licence, accepts fresh wholesale applications only at district headquarters and major tehsils that already have more than 100 wholesale licensees, and makes applicants promise to buy only from manufacturers or their authorised C&F agents, depots and stockists.

Drug license fees and the five-year retention fee

The fee is set by Rule 59 of the Drugs Rules, so it is the same law in every state, though each state collects it through its own portal. The forms and fees table of the Drugs Control Department, Delhi (checked on 8 November 2026) gives the current figures:

Licence	Application form	Fee for grant or retention	Late retention (within six months)	Duplicate copy
Retail, Form 20 or Form 21	19	₹1,500 each	₹1,500 + 2% of the licence fee per month	₹150
Wholesale, Form 20-B or Form 21-B	19	₹1,500 each	₹1,500 + 2% of the licence fee per month	₹150
Restricted, Form 20-A or 21-A	19-A	₹500 each	₹500 + 2% of the licence fee per month	₹150
Schedule X, Form 20-F (retail) or 20-G (wholesale)	19-C	₹500 each	₹500 + 2% of the licence fee per month	₹150
Homoeopathic, Form 20-C (retail) or 20-D (wholesale)	19-B	₹250 each	₹250 + ₹50 per month	₹50

So a new chemist applying for Forms 20 and 21 should expect government fees of about ₹3,000, and a firm wanting retail and wholesale licences in one place about ₹6,000. The portal shows the exact total before you pay. Anything a consultant charges above that is their professional fee, not a government charge.

Validity. The old Rule 63 made sale licences valid for five years and then due for renewal. Since the amendment notified as G.S.R. 1337(E) on 27 October 2017, Rule 63 says a licence in Forms 20, 20-A, 20-B, 20-BB, 20-F, 20-G, 21, 21-A, 21-B or 21-BB "shall remain valid" if the licensee deposits a licence retention fee before the end of every five years from the date of issue. The retention fee equals the fee for grant. Pay late and you owe a late fee of 2% of the licence fee for every month or part of a month, up to six months; if you have not paid by then, the licence is deemed cancelled. Diarise the date: a deemed cancellation means applying afresh, with a new inspection.

How to get a drug license: the steps and the official timeline

The process is now online in most states. Many, including Jammu and Kashmir, use the Online National Drugs Licensing System (ONDLS) at statedrugs.gov.in for retail, wholesale and manufacturing licences; others run their own portal, which your state drugs controller's website names. The order of work is the same everywhere:

1. Choose the licence and the structure. Decide retail, wholesale or both, and whether you need 20-F/20-G or homoeopathic forms. Decide whether the business is a proprietorship, partnership, LLP or company, because the licence is issued in the firm's name and the documents differ. If you need a GST registration and a Udyam certificate, those come separately; our Udyam registration guide explains that one.
2. Secure premises that will pass. Measure the carpet area before you sign the lease: 10 square metres for one kind of licence, 15 square metres for both. Check the property's land use, since several states, Delhi among them, refuse residential premises. Get a rent agreement with the landlord's ownership proof, and draw a site plan and a key plan (a small map showing where the shop is).
3. Engage the pharmacist or competent person. Get an appointment letter, their pharmacy council registration (for retail), qualification certificates from class 10 onwards, Aadhaar and, for a non-pharmacist competent person in wholesale, experience certificates. In J&K a competent person who is not a pharmacist must first be cleared by a divisional technical committee, which issues a "Technical Person Approval" number to be uploaded on ONDLS; a separate competent person is needed for each additional place or godown.
4. Register on the portal and fill Form 19 (or 19-A, 19-B, 19-C as the table above shows). Upload the documents listed in the next section and pay the fee online.
5. Inspection. A drugs inspector or drug control officer visits to check the area, storage, the pharmacist's presence and that the address matches the papers. J&K's published timeline gives the nodal officer 3 days to allot the file to an officer, the officer 21 days to inspect and recommend, and the licensing authority 6 days to approve or reject, about a month in all if no query is raised. Other states publish their own timelines under their ease-of-doing-business commitments.
6. Download the licence and display it. The certificate shows the licence numbers, the firm, the address, the forms granted and the pharmacist or competent person. Rule 65 then requires the shop to display "Chemists and Druggists" if it employs a pharmacist but does not compound medicines, or "Pharmacy" if it compounds prescriptions.
7. Diarise the retention date and report changes. A new partner, a change of pharmacist or a move of premises has to go through the licensing authority. J&K's manual says it will not accept a shift of wholesale premises to places outside its approved towns.

Documents checklist for a retail or wholesale drug license

The Delhi checklist for a retail licence on Forms 20, 21 and 20-F is a good model of what states ask for. Its list, in short:

• The system-generated application form (Form 19 or 19-C), the fee receipt and the self-declaration of the proprietor, partners or directors.
• Site plan and key plan of the premises.
• Proof of the firm's constitution: a declaration for a proprietorship; the partnership deed and list of partners; the LLP deed and registration certificate; the memorandum and articles, certificate of incorporation, board resolution and list of directors for a company; or the trust deed, society by-laws or HUF deed.
• Photo ID of the proprietor, partners or directors, and an affidavit that none has been convicted under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.
• For the pharmacist: Aadhaar, a self-declaration, qualification certificates and mark sheets, valid state pharmacy council registration, the appointment letter and a bio-data in the prescribed format.
• For the premises: if owned, the sale deed or conveyance deed (or an unregistered deed with an electricity bill, water bill or property tax receipt); if rented, the rent agreement and rent receipt with the landlord's ownership documents.

The wholesale checklist is the same except that the person in charge is the "competent person" and, if they are not a pharmacist, their experience certificate is needed. Every document is self-attested.

How to check a drug license (and why suppliers must)

Searches for "drug license check" come from two kinds of people: those wanting to know whether a pharmacy is genuine, and businesses that must check a trading partner. For the second group it is a legal duty, not a precaution. Rule 65(5) says a wholesale supply must be made against a cash or credit memo showing the buyer's name, address and sale licence number (or, for hospitals, government buyers and doctors, their name and address). Rule 65(4) makes retailers record the licence number of the firm they buy from. A distributor that sells to an unlicensed shop, or a chemist that buys from an unlicensed source, is breaking the rules on its own books.

A practical check before you open an account:

1. Ask for the licence copy and read the forms on it. A retailer should hold Forms 20 and 21; a wholesaler buying from you for resale should hold 20-B and 21-B. A shop with only Form 20 should not be buying injectables from you.
2. Match the name and address with the GST registration and the delivery address. A licence is tied to its premises; goods going to a different address are a warning sign.
3. Check the issue date and retention. A licence issued more than five years ago is valid only if the retention fee was paid. Ask for the latest fee receipt or the retention certificate shown on the portal.
4. Look it up with the state. Several drug controllers publish their licensee or cancellation lists. J&K, for example, posts a list of operational medical sale establishments and a list of cancelled drug licences on its website. Where a state has nothing public, the district drugs control office can confirm a licence number.
5. Keep the copy on file. Retail and wholesale records must be kept for at least two years, and wholesale sale memos for three, under Rule 65. Keep the licence copy with them.

For the wider business checks (GSTIN, company and Udyam), use our company search guide. The FSSAI license check is the food equivalent, useful if a chemist also sells nutraceuticals or baby food.

Running costs and rules after the licence

The licence comes with conditions that last as long as it does. Rule 65 lists them; these are the ones that shape daily work:

Rule	What it requires	Who it hits
Prescription drugs	Schedule H and X drugs are sold by retail only against a registered medical practitioner's prescription; Schedule X prescriptions in duplicate, one kept for two years	Chemists
Sale bills	Every retail sale on a numbered cash or credit memo with the shop's licence number; wholesale memos with the buyer's licence number and batch numbers	Chemists and wholesalers
Purchase records	Supplier's name, address and licence number, drug, quantity, batch and manufacturer	Both
Schedule X stock	Under lock and key, with a bound register entry for every receipt and supply	20-F and 20-G holders
Expired stock	Not to be sold; kept apart and marked "Not for sale" until returned	Both
Government and sample stock	Physician samples and drugs marked for ESIC, CGHS, the armed forces and other government supply may not be stocked or sold, except by appointed agents	Both
Inspection book	Keep an inspection book in Form 35 for the inspector's remarks, and produce all records on demand	Both

Under Rule 66, the licensing authority can suspend or cancel a licence, wholly or for some drugs, if the licensee fails to comply with any condition of the licence or the rules, after giving the licensee a chance to show cause. Each row in the table above is therefore a condition the inspector can act on.

Who holds drug licences: licensed businesses in Starleads' data

Every chemist, pharma distributor and medicine stockist you might want to supply holds one of the licences above. That makes the licence the qualifying question for anyone selling to them: billing software and barcode printers, refrigerators and racks, generic brands looking for stockists, diagnostics and surgical supplies. The figures below are counts of contacts in Starleads' data on 8 November 2026, not an official census of licences.

• Chemists and medical stores: 45,748 across 32 states and 297 cities, 98% with a mobile number and 50% with an email. The most are in Maharashtra (14,555), Delhi (4,707) and Telangana (4,516). By city, our industry figures put Mumbai first with 8,079, then Hyderabad (4,238), Bengaluru (3,691), Pune (3,225) and Chennai (1,622). See the Maharashtra, Delhi and Telangana lists.
• Surgical and hospital supplies dealers: 5,113 in 123 cities, most in Mumbai (741), Delhi (529) and Ahmedabad (263).
• Pharma and chemical companies: 2,867, mostly in Maharashtra (1,208), Karnataka (494) and Gujarat (275), 76% with a named contact person.
• Ayurvedic and homoeopathy businesses: 6,313, with Maharashtra (2,649) and Rajasthan (1,257) leading. Homoeopathic pharmacies hold Forms 20-C or 20-D; Ayurvedic sellers fall under separate rules.

Live figures: our Chemists & Medical Stores list has 45,748 contacts in 297 cities, 98% with a mobile number and 50% with an email, and it is also sold for 23 cities one by one. Every list page has 60 sample rows to download free before you pay.

Chemist lists by city

• Mumbai 8,079 contacts · 61% email · 90% mobile ₹499
• Hyderabad 4,238 contacts · 69% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Bengaluru 3,691 contacts · 53% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Pune 3,225 contacts · 53% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Chennai 1,622 contacts · 46% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Jaipur 1,577 contacts · 27% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Ahmedabad 1,450 contacts · 72% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Kolkata 1,236 contacts · 47% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Nashik 767 contacts · 54% email · 100% mobile ₹499
• Nagpur 725 contacts · 50% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Vadodara 630 contacts · 63% email · 99% mobile ₹499
• Surat 405 contacts · 27% email · 100% mobile ₹499

Related healthcare trade lists

• Chemists & Medical Stores 45,748 contacts · 50% email · 98% mobile ₹1,999
• Surgical & Hospital Supplies Dealers 5,113 contacts · 54% email · 84% mobile ₹499
• Pharma & Chemical Companies 2,867 contacts · 40% email · 73% mobile ₹499
• Ayurvedic & Homeopathy 6,313 contacts · 35% email · 88% mobile ₹499
• Medical Equipment Suppliers 3,970 contacts · 41% email · 78% mobile ₹499

Where Starleads falls short: our lists hold the shop's name, owner where listed, phone, email and address. They do not carry drug licence numbers, so they are a way to find and reach chemists, not a register of licences. Check the licence of any shop before you sell it medicines, as above. City, state and specialisation lists cost ₹499 and all-India files of 10,000 or more contacts ₹1,999, plus 18% GST. Our pharmacy and chemist list guide covers the chemist market in more detail, and how to become a distributor covers the commercial side of a stockist business.

If you call or message chemists, the telecom rules apply as to any business. Check mobile numbers against TRAI's National Customer Preference Register (DND) before a promotional call or SMS (our DND check guide shows how), send bulk SMS only through a DLT-registered sender with a registered header and approved templates, say who you are at the start of a call, and stop when someone asks you to.

Questions people ask

What is the drug license fee in India?

Rule 59 of the Drugs Rules sets it. Delhi's official table lists ₹1,500 for each retail (Form 20, 21) and wholesale (Form 20-B, 21-B) licence, ₹500 for restricted and Schedule X licences, and ₹250 for homoeopathic ones. A chemist taking Forms 20 and 21 should expect about ₹3,000 in government fees. The same amount is paid as a retention fee every five years.

Can I get a drug license without being a pharmacist?

Yes, the owner need not be a pharmacist. A retail shop must employ a registered pharmacist who supervises dispensing. A wholesale firm needs a competent person, who can be a pharmacist, a matriculate with four years' experience in drug sales, or a graduate with one year's experience in dealing with drugs.

How much space is required for a medical store?

At least 10 square metres for a retail licence, 10 square metres for a wholesale licence, and 15 square metres for both in the same premises, under Rule 64. Some states add their own conditions, such as Delhi's refusal of residential premises that do not meet the Master Plan.

How long does it take to get a drug license?

It depends on the state and on whether the inspector raises a query. Jammu and Kashmir's published timeline is 3 days to allot the application, 21 days for scrutiny and inspection, and 6 days for the final decision, about 30 days if the papers are complete.

What is the validity of a drug license?

Since the 2017 amendment to Rule 63, a sale licence stays valid as long as the retention fee is paid before the end of each five-year period from its issue, unless it is suspended or cancelled. Paying late costs 2% of the licence fee per month, and after six months unpaid the licence is deemed cancelled.

What is the difference between Form 20 and Form 21?

Form 20 covers retail sale of drugs not in Schedules C, C(1) or X; Form 21 covers retail sale of Schedule C and C(1) drugs, such as vaccines, insulin, injectables, eye preparations and oral antibiotics and vitamins. Most chemists hold both.

Do I need a separate drug license for a godown?

Yes. Rule 62 requires a separate application and licence for each place where drugs are sold or stocked. Itinerant vendors licensed for an area are the only exception.

How do I check if a drug license is valid?

Ask for the licence copy, match the firm, address and forms with its GST registration and delivery address, check that the retention fee is paid if the licence is more than five years old, and confirm with the state drug controller's published lists or the district drugs control office.