Check a Karnataka drug licence

Who issues drug licences in Karnataka

Retail and wholesale drug licences in Karnataka are granted under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs Rules, 1945 by the Drugs Control Department, Karnataka, the state licensing authority. It grants, renews, suspends and cancels licences, so a dispute about a licence's status is settled with it, not with us.

Reading a Karnataka drug licence number

Licence numbers in Karnataka look like this today. Characters shown as x stand for the serial, which is different on every licence.

• KA-B11-1xxxxx

  KA, the code of the district office that issued the licence (such as B11), and a serial. Karnataka's serials run in one state-wide sequence, not per district.

Older Karnataka numbers you may still see

• KA/BNG/1/xxxx

  Older Karnataka certificates print a town code (such as BNG or DWR), an office number and a shorter serial.

• Karnataka can issue the same printed number to a retail and a wholesale licence of different firms. Typing the form in front - 20 or 21 for retail, 20B or 21B for wholesale, e.g. 20B-KA-B31-2xxxxx - tells the two apart; without it we may ask you for more detail rather than guess.

Which licence forms apply

A pharmacy or distributor in Karnataka holds one or more of these licences. The form is printed on the certificate, usually beside the number.

Retail · Form 20 / 21

A chemist or pharmacy selling to the public. Form 20 covers drugs other than those in Schedules C, C1 and X; Form 21 covers Schedule C and C1 drugs. Most shops hold both.

Wholesale · Form 20B / 21B

A distributor or stockist selling to other licensees, with the same split between the two forms.

Restricted · Form 20A / 21A

A restricted licence for a dealer without a registered pharmacist, such as a general store in a village, limited to a narrow range of medicines.

What we check in Karnataka: Retail (Form 20/21); Wholesale (Form 20B/21B).

What a result means

Valid

The licence is in the official records under that number, is not cancelled or suspended, and is within its validity. You see the firm name to compare with your invoice, and the date the records are as of.

Expired

The licence exists but its validity date has passed. The firm may have applied for renewal; ask for the renewed certificate before you trade.

Cancelled or suspended

The licensing authority has cancelled or suspended the licence. Do not buy from or sell to the firm under it until that changes.

Not found

No licence under that number in the Karnataka records. Check the number and the state first, and whether it is an older number the state has since replaced.

More than one firm

The number as typed fits several firms. We name none of them rather than guess; enter the full number or the firm name.

Could not be checked

The official records could not be reached. We say so plainly: an outage is never reported as "not found", and a check that cannot be completed does not count against your monthly allowance.