Telegram bot created for checking the real cost of drugs in pharmacies

The Consumer Protection Agency under the Antimonopoly Committee of Uzbekistan has launched the Telegram bot @dorinarx_bot to provide consumers with information on the maximum retail price of medicines.

It is noted that pharmacies have recently experienced a shortage of medicines and artificially inflated prices for a number of drugs, and consumers have complained about unreasonably high prices for antiviral and antiretroviral drugs. Through the mentioned bot, compliance with established medicine price regulations will be ensured.

Today, the wholesale and retail sale of medicines and medical products imported and produced domestically is subject to fixed trade margins; for wholesale – no more than 15% of the purchase price, for retail sales – no more than 20% of the wholesale price.

For the convenience of consumers, the search for drugs in @dorinarx_bot is possible by international generic or trade name (more than 2 thousand trade names as of October 27, 2020).

Information on customer request via @dorinarx_bot contains the following data: trade name of the preparation, dosage, type of packaging, manufacturer, international generic name and retail price limit.

In case of the high pricing, the consumer should send an appeal to the Consumer Protection Agency via the helpline 1159 or through the consumer.uz website.