To verify a pharma supplier, run seven checks in this order: the Drug Licence number, the GST number, the legal identity and bank account, the premises, the packs themselves, one small order, and what arrives with the goods. The first three take fifteen minutes on government portals and rule out most problems. The small order tells you more than the other six together, because it is the only check that measures behaviour rather than paperwork.
1. The Drug Licence
Ask for the licence number and the state that issued it. Not a scan of a certificate: the number, so you can look it up. Then check three things on it: the name matches the name that will appear on your invoice; the address matches where the goods will dispatch from; and the category covers what you are buying. A wholesale licence (Forms 20B and 21B) covers supply to trade; Schedule C and C(1) items need the corresponding form.
A supplier who treats this question as an insult is not a supplier. Everyone legitimate in this trade is asked it weekly. If you are on the other side of the same question, the documents you will be asked for are the same, and they are listed in documents required for a PCD pharma franchise.
2. The GST number
Enter the 15-character GSTIN on the government portal. It takes under a minute and returns the registered legal name, the state, the registration date and whether the registration is active.
Two mismatches matter. If the trade name differs from the name on the Drug Licence, ask why before you pay. If the state differs from the dispatch address, ask which entity is actually invoicing you. Neither is automatically wrong; groups run multiple registrations. Both need an answer you understand. An inactive or cancelled registration is where you stop. You will not get input credit, and that is the smaller problem.
3. Legal identity and the bank account
If the supplier is a company, ask for the CIN and check it on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal: status active, incorporation date consistent with how long they say they have traded. A firm registered last year quoting two decades of experience is a question, not a disqualification, but ask it. For a proprietorship or partnership, the GST registration date does the same job.
Then the bank account. The name on the account you are asked to pay must be the legal name on the licence and the GST certificate. A personal account, or a third party’s, is where you stop regardless of how good the rate is. A legitimate firm can be impersonated; the account name is what catches it.
4. The premises
An address on a website is a claim. Look it up on a map and see whether it is an industrial address with stock behind it or a room in a commercial complex. Both exist in this trade legitimately, but a wholesaler with 200 products and no warehouse is buying to order, and your delivery date depends on somebody else’s. If you can visit, visit. If you cannot, ask for a photograph of the racking and the dispatch area rather than the reception. It is a small request and the response is informative either way.
5. The pack
Every pack sold in India names its manufacturer and carries the manufacturing licence number, the batch number, and the manufacturing and expiry dates. Ask the supplier who manufactures each brand you intend to buy. A trader who cannot tell you who makes what they sell has not looked at their own stock. Then ask for the stock position on three products you will actually order. A catalogue is a list of things a company would like to sell you. A rate list with stock status is a list of things it can.
6. One small order
Place the smallest order the supplier will accept, on a normal working day, with a delivery date attached. Then watch four things:
- Did the quote come back when they said it would? A supplier who is slow before the money moves does not get faster after.
- Did they tell you what was out of stock, unprompted? The single best signal in the trade. Partial availability is normal. Discovering it from the delivery challan is not.
- Did the dispatch date hold? One order does not prove a pattern. A missed first date usually does.
- Did the packing survive the transport? Look at the outer carton, then the strips inside it.
A small order costs you a freight charge. A wrong supplier costs you a customer.
7. What arrives with the goods
Open the consignment and check the paperwork before the stock: a tax invoice with the GSTIN matching what the portal showed you; batch number and expiry for every line, matching the strips; remaining shelf life against the minimum you agreed in advance, because near-expiry stock at an attractive rate is the oldest trick in wholesale; and quantity against the invoice, because short-shipping that is never mentioned is a pattern, not an accident. If you have to make a phone call to get documentation that should have been in the box, you will be making that call during an audit too.
What certificates do not tell you
A quality certificate says a quality system was documented and audited, at a site, on a date. Verify it with the body that issued it, because the logo on a brochure is not the certificate. Then put it in its place: it does not say the stock is in the warehouse today. A registration certificate says the entity exists, not that it holds inventory. Certificates are a floor, not a ranking. Their absence disqualifies a supplier. Their presence tells you almost nothing about whether the goods arrive on the date you promised your own customer.
Red flags, in one list
- A personal or third-party bank account on the invoice.
- Trade name that differs between the licence, the GST certificate and the invoice.
- Registration date that does not fit the years of experience claimed.
- No premises you can find on a map, or a reception photo offered instead of the racking.
- A catalogue with no stock position, or a stock position that is “all available”.
- Impatience with the licence question.
Run the same test on us
It would be a strange article to write and then not answer. Chemo Remediess is a wholesale trader and supplier, GST registered, in wholesale supply since 2000. We stock formulations across 25+ therapeutic ranges, and 5 products are supplied on request rather than from live stock; we will tell you which on the call. Ask us for the licence number and the GST number and we will send them. Then place a small order rather than taking our word for any of it.
Questions people ask
How do I check whether a pharma company is genuine?
Verify the Drug Licence number with the issuing state authority, verify the GSTIN on the GST portal, confirm the bank account is in the same legal name, check the premises is real, and place one small order before committing volume.
How do I verify a supplier’s GST number?
Enter the 15-character GSTIN in the search on gst.gov.in. The portal returns the registered legal name, the state, the registration date and whether the registration is active. Match the name to the Drug Licence and the invoice.
Can I check a Drug Licence number online?
Several states publish licence details on their drugs control portals, though coverage varies. Where the portal does not help, the licence number, issuing state and licensee name can be confirmed with the department directly.
Is a WHO-GMP certificate enough to trust a supplier?
No. A certificate says a quality system was documented and audited at a site on a date. It says nothing about whether the stock is in the warehouse today or whether the dispatch date will hold. Verify it with the issuing body, then test behaviour with a small order.
What paperwork should come with a pharmaceutical consignment?
A tax invoice showing the GSTIN, and batch number and expiry date for every line, matching the strips in the box. Agree a minimum remaining shelf life in writing before the order.
What are the red flags with a pharma supplier?
A personal bank account on the invoice, a trade name that differs between licence, GST and invoice, a new entity claiming decades of trade, no premises you can find on a map, and a catalogue with no stock position attached.
Ask us for the licence and GST number
We will send both, with the current stock position on the ranges you want. Then start with a small order. 25+ therapeutic ranges, in wholesale supply since 2000.
Practical checks a buyer can run before ordering. Not legal advice, and not a substitute for confirming licence details with the issuing State Drugs Control Department.