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 The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has instructed all Examining Authorities, such as the universities and boards, to register and apply with the Council's DIGI-PHARMed portal as an examining body under the Pharmacy Act, 1948, on immediate basis. The Examining Authorities shall apply for renewal of approval after every five years, it said.
The Central Council, in a circular to all Examining Authorities, informed that all Examining Authorities need to register and apply on the portal under the dedicated section for such registration, immediately.
"The University/Board are hereby instructed to register on PCI Portal as Examining Body u/s 12(2) of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 for approval by all the Examining Authorities (Universities/Boards). Examining Authorities (Universities/Boards) shall apply for renewal of approval after every 5 years," said the Council.
Section 12 of the Pharmacy Act deals with the approved courses of study and examinations, and the sub section 2 states that any authority in a state which holds an examination in pharmacy may apply to the Central Council for approval of the examination. The Central Council, if satisfied, after such enquiry as it thinks fit to make, that the said examination is in conformity with the education regulations, shall declare the said examination to be an approved examination for the purpose of qualifying for registration as a pharmacist under the Act.
The Council, in its latest circular said that the necessary details regarding examination schedules or calendar, list of institutions for which consent has been given by the institutions etc., will be updated regularly or yearly after the approval from the PCI.
The registration fee for Examination Authorities has been fixed at Rs. 10,000 along with Goods and Services Tax (GST), and application regulatory fees will be Rs. 1 lakh along with GST for the tenure of five years.
"The portal will be live from 21.1.2026 and all the Examining Authorities (Universities/Boards) are requested to complete the same on or before 21.2.2026," said the circular.
The Council also released the list of statutory documents required by each category of institutions, a format of the resolution of the Board of Governors or the board of management, syndicate, governing council or the authority of the University to be enclosed with the Standard Inspection Format (SIF) for approval, and a letter from the head of the University regarding the examinations to be conducted as per the statutory provisions of the Pharmacy Act, under its aegis, among others.
Government universities and other authorities authorised by the Central and state governments, if they are new, need to submit a copy of Gazette Notification declaring it as a university, along with the relevant portion of the notification empowering it to start pharmacy programme, hold examination and confer diploma, or degree. If the University's statute does not empower it to start pharmacy courses, the University's resolution of Governors, Board of Management or others to start pharmacy programmes should be submitted in a prescribed format.
Private Universities should also submit a copy of the Gazette Notification declaring it as a University, and similar details for registration and approval. Deemed to be Universities should submit the Ministry of Human Resource Development notification declaring it as a deemed to be University, along with other documents to attain the approval.
Boards or State Pharmacy Councils should submit the composition of the Board members, resolution of the board members, Government notification regarding authorisation to take examination of Diploma course in Pharmacy, among other details.
The Council stipulates that M.Pharm course cannot be started till B.Pharm course is approved under Section 12 of the Act, for the purpose of registration as a pharmacist and the B.Pharm institutions approved to conduct B.Pharm course are not eligible to start M.Pharm Course. However, the institutions established by the Central or state governments for postgraduate education shall be eligible for starting M.Pharm Course directly.
Pharm.D, Pharm.D Post Baccalaureate, and B.Pharm (Practice) courses cannot be started till B.Pharm course is approved under the relevant section of the Act. B.Pharm institutions approved to conduct B.Pharm courses are not eligible to start these courses, it added.
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