For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.
Given the stiff competition among online pharmacies, many of them offer rebates. Some even suggest switching to generic alternatives after we place the order. We sometimes agree, but we always make it clear that we won’t change brands for important medicines without consulting our doctor.
However, with competition has come unethical price manipulation.
In our experience, PharmEasy stands out as the worst offender. They initially attract you with a 27% discount. But after finalizing the cart, it drops to 24%. Even then, we’ve placed orders (we prefer cash on delivery). But after getting a confirmation, and just before dispatching the shipment, they increase the price of the medicines.
This happened to us in late April. We had ordered medicines worth over ₹5,000. While enjoying dosa at our favourite Chennai Express restaurant in Ahmedabad, I received an SMS informing me that the prices had been revised upward. Shocked, I canceled the order and left this review on the PharmEasy app:
> “After I ordered medicines at a certain price, PharmEasy hours later updated and revised the prices upward. Unethical — decided to cancel the order.”
They responded, asking us to email the order number. To our surprise, not only was the order canceled, but PharmEasy also removed the entire order history from our account! Still, on May 1, we emailed them with our phone number to find out if it had been an error.
Since then, we’ve received two responses. One, from Sandhya Nackwal on May 2, explained the revised pricing:
> “The products listed in the app are not linked to a fixed price. Thus, we share the estimated cost at the time of order placement, which can be either higher or lower than the actual price. We send you an SMS or push notification for the total discounted amount once your medicines are procured...”
The reply urged us to be patient and reorder. It added:
> “Sometimes, the MRP of medicines may vary depending on the stock received by the chemist. This variation is always due to manufacturer price changes. However, if the price on the packaging differs from the bill, please share an image highlighting the batch number so we can resolve the issue.”
Later, we received a phone call assuring us that this wouldn’t happen again and urging us to reorder. So we did, on May 3. I also sent another email on May 6:
> “Yours is the only platform that updates the price upwards after the order is placed and billed. Very strange, to say the least. We had to cancel the order twice, and now your representative tells us it won’t happen again, so he revived the cancelled order at the original price. Let’s see what happens now!”
This time, the total payable amount had gone down. Suspicious, I checked and realized they had simply reduced the quantity of medicines we had ordered while raising the prices of the rest. We canceled again and left this updated review:
> “Am forced to edit my review. Twice, after I ordered medicines, PharmEasy revised prices upward before delivery. Third time, they reduced the total amount but also reduced the number of medicines, while increasing some prices. Unethical, untrustworthy. Have canceled for the third time...”
It’s now been two weeks, and we keep getting calls from PharmEasy representatives. We hang up the moment we realize it’s them.
Out of curiosity, I browsed the app’s review section. To my dismay — but not surprise — many others have faced the same issue.
Prashant Arya (April 23):
> “I recently purchased a pharmaceutical product from this platform, and unfortunately, my experience was disappointing. The listed price was ₹80, but the final bill showed ₹100. Plus, additional platform fees made the overall cost even higher. The advertised price does not reflect the actual cost at checkout. Misleading and frustrating.”
M Mohan (January 18):
> “Prices changed between adding items to the cart and checkout. Discounts were shown initially but vanished later. Customer support was poor and unhelpful.”
Namrata Behera (April 30):
> “Most products are listed at a fair price, but at checkout, the price increases…”
Vedant Mule (May 12):
> “Don’t use this app. There’s a huge difference in the price shown on the product page and the cart…"
Each of these users gave a one-star rating. I don’t know whether PharmEasy is losing customers. Maybe not — they claim to have over four crore “satisfied” customers. Perhaps that’s why they don’t care about negative reviews.
But I still wonder: has PharmEasy ever tried to find out why no other app makes such bizarre upward price revisions after confirming an order?
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