Three documents are required for a PCD pharma franchise: a Drug Licence issued by your State Drugs Control Department, a GST registration, and a PAN in the name of the firm. Companies will also ask for a cancelled cheque, the firm’s registration papers and the address the stock will be stored at. A company willing to release stock without seeing the first three will cost you more than it saves you.
Almost all the work sits in the first item. Below is each document in order of difficulty, what the company should ask you for, and what you should ask them for in return.
The checklist
| # | Document | Issued by | Realistic time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drug Licence, Forms 20B and 21B | State Drugs Control Department | Weeks. A premises inspection is part of it. |
| 2 | GST registration | GST portal | Days |
| 3 | PAN in the firm’s name | Income Tax Department | Days |
| 4 | Firm registration: proprietorship, partnership deed, LLP or company incorporation | Registrar / sub-registrar | Days to weeks |
| 5 | Current account and cancelled cheque | Your bank | Days, after PAN |
| 6 | Premises proof: ownership papers or registered rent deed, electricity bill, landlord NOC where rented | You | Before the licence inspection |
| 7 | Competent person documents: qualification, experience certificate, consent | You | Before filing |
| 8 | Franchise agreement, signed, with territory and product list attached | The company | Last |
Start the Drug Licence first. Everything else is administrative. Two optional items: a local trade licence where your municipality requires one, and an FSSAI licence only if your list includes nutraceuticals or protein powders.
1. The Drug Licence
This is the document that makes the supply legal. Section 18 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 prohibits the sale, stock or distribution of drugs without one, and the exposure sits on both sides of the invoice. A serious supplier will not ship to an unlicensed buyer whatever the urgency on the call.
Which form applies to you
Wholesale and retail are separate licences. Both are applied for on Form 19, filed with your State Licensing Authority, usually through the state portal. Haryana applicants: the Haryana wholesale drug licence post covers the FDA portal, fees and the competent person test in detail.
- Form 20B: wholesale licence for general allopathic drugs. The one most PCD partners need.
- Form 21B: wholesale licence for Schedule C and C(1) drugs: biologicals, vaccines, sera and the like.
- Forms 20 and 21: the retail equivalents, if you also sell directly to patients.
Schedule X items sit under a separate licence with tighter record-keeping. If anything on your proposed product list falls there, raise it before you file.
The competent person
A wholesale licence does not require a registered pharmacist. It requires a competent person: a registered pharmacist, or a graduate with at least one year’s experience dealing in drugs, or a matriculate with at least four years, approved by the department. Retail is stricter: a registered pharmacist has to be present through working hours. The two get conflated constantly, and the difference usually surfaces during the inspection rather than before it.
The premises
Ten square metres for a wholesale licence. Fifteen if you hold retail and wholesale at the same address. Add ventilation, lighting, racking, and a refrigerator if anything on your list needs cold storage. Take the premises before you file. The inspector is inspecting a room, not a plan.
The fee and the bundle
Fees differ by state: about ₹3,000 for Forms 20B and 21B together in Maharashtra, and ₹1,500 per licence in Chandigarh. The bundle is the applicant’s ID and affidavit, the competent person’s papers, premises proof with a site plan, the firm’s constitution document and the fee receipt.
Most first-attempt rejections are not substantive. They are a missing experience certificate, a room that falls short on area, or a fee receipt nobody attached.
2 and 3. GST and PAN
Pharmaceutical supply cannot be invoiced without a GSTIN, and no company will raise an invoice to a firm that does not have one. Register in the state where the premises sits, the same state as the Drug Licence. Most medicines carry 5 per cent GST since 22 September 2025 (All India Radio), and the tax you pay on purchases is set off against the tax you collect on sales.
Keep the trade name on the GST certificate identical to the name on the Drug Licence. A mismatch between those two is one of the most common reasons a first consignment sits waiting.
The PAN is in the firm’s name, not yours, unless you trade as a sole proprietor under your own name. The current account follows from it.
8. The franchise agreement
The company drafts it; you read it twice. The agreement is the only document on this list that protects you rather than the regulator, and it is worth exactly what it specifies: the districts named, the product list attached, the price to stockist per product, the credit terms, the return policy, and the term. Monopoly rights spoken on a call are not in this document, and so do not exist.
What the company should ask you for
Before the first consignment, a legitimate PCD company will want copies of the Drug Licence with the number and validity visible, the GST certificate, the firm’s PAN, a cancelled cheque, and the address the goods will be delivered to and stored at. If nobody asks, someone else on their books was not asked either.
What you should ask the company for
The same test, in reverse: their Drug Licence number and issuing state, their GST number (one minute on the portal), a registered address, and a sample invoice. The full sequence is in how to verify a pharma supplier.
We fail one of these tests on purpose. If you do not hold a Drug Licence yet, we cannot supply you, and we will say so on the first call rather than keep you warm while you apply. Get the licence, then come back.
A realistic timeline
PAN and GST take days. The Drug Licence takes as long as your state’s queue and your first submission allow. Work backwards from the inspection: premises taken, competent person documented, racking in place, then file. Do not commit to a territory or an opening order until the licence is in hand. Companies will book the territory on a promise. The stock still cannot move.
Questions people ask
What documents are required for a PCD pharma franchise?
A Drug Licence (Forms 20B and 21B for wholesale) from your State Drugs Control Department, GST registration, and a PAN in the firm’s name. Companies also ask for a cancelled cheque, the firm’s constitution document and the delivery address.
Can I start a PCD pharma franchise without a Drug Licence?
No. Section 18 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 prohibits sale, stock or distribution of drugs without one. A company willing to supply you anyway is telling you how it treats compliance generally.
Do I need a wholesale or a retail drug licence?
Wholesale, Forms 20B and 21B, if you supply chemists, hospitals and clinics. Retail, Forms 20 and 21, if you also sell to patients. Both can be held at one address, with a larger minimum area.
Do I need a registered pharmacist for a wholesale licence?
Not necessarily. A wholesale licence needs a competent person: a registered pharmacist, a graduate with one year’s experience dealing in drugs, or a matriculate with four years. Retail requires a registered pharmacist present through working hours.
Is an FSSAI licence needed?
Only if your product list includes nutraceuticals, protein powders or other items regulated as food. Allopathic formulations do not need it.
How long does the paperwork take?
PAN and GST take days. The Drug Licence takes weeks because an inspector visits the premises. Companies usually verify a complete document set within a few days to a week.
Licence in hand? Send us the ranges.
Send your Drug Licence and GST details with the ranges you want. We will come back with the rate list and the current stock position, in writing. GST registered, in wholesale supply since 2000.
Forms, fees and premises rules are administered state by state; figures checked against the linked sources on 8 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.