Medical Store Billing Software in India: Bill Rules, H1 Register and What to Check

Quick answer: under Rule 65 of the Drugs Rules, 1945, every retail medicine bill must show the store's name, address and drug sale licence number, a serial number for the bill, and the name and quantity of each medicine. Schedule H and H1 medicines need a prescription, and every Schedule H1 sale goes into a separate register that you keep for three years. Good medical store billing software makes all of this routine: fast billing, batch and expiry tracking, GST registers and clean purchase records.

This guide covers what the law asks of a chemist or hospital pharmacy, what a good bill looks like, and what to check before you pay for billing software.

What the Drugs Rules require from a medical store

The rules for retail sale are in Rule 65 of the Drugs Rules, 1945. Your State Drugs Control office can add conditions to your licence, so treat this as the minimum.

The bill (cash or credit memo)

For every retail sale, the cash or credit memo must carry:

• the name, address and sale licence number of the dealer — that is, your store
• the serial number of the memo
• the name and quantity of each drug supplied

Notice what is not on that list: patient name, batch number and expiry are not required on the retail bill itself. They are still good practice, and some of them are required in your records (see below).

A registered pharmacist

A medicine supplied on a doctor's prescription must be sold by or under the personal supervision of a registered pharmacist. Software does not change this — it only keeps the records.

Schedule H and H1 medicines

• These are sold only against a prescription. A Schedule H or H1 prescription is dispensed once, unless the doctor writes that it may be repeated and how many times.
• Records for Schedule H and H1 sales include the manufacturer, batch number and expiry.
• Every Schedule H1 sale is entered in a separate register at the time of sale, with the prescriber's name and address, the patient's name, the drug name and the quantity. Keep this register for three years, open for inspection.

What a good medical store bill looks like

Part	What to show	Why
Store details	Name, address, phone, drug licence number, GSTIN if registered	Licence number is required on the memo; GSTIN for GST bills
Bill number and date	A running number that never repeats	Required serial number; makes returns and audits easy
Customer (optional)	Patient name and phone, doctor's name	Helps returns, repeat purchases and Schedule H records
Each medicine	Name, quantity, batch, expiry, MRP, discount	Name and quantity are required; batch and expiry help recalls and returns
Tax	GST rate, HSN and the tax amount if you are GST-registered	Needed for a GST tax invoice — confirm details with your CA
Total	Amount, round-off and payment mode (cash, UPI, card)	Matches the day's cash and UPI totals
Signature	Pharmacist's name or signature	Shows who supervised the sale

What to check before buying billing software

Most chemist billing software looks the same in a demo. These are the things that matter on a busy evening at the counter:

1. Speed at the counter. Can you add a medicine by scanning the barcode or typing a few letters and pressing Enter? Every extra click is a longer queue.
2. Strips and tablets. You buy by the box, sell by the strip and sometimes by the tablet. The software should convert units for you, so stock stays right.
3. Batch and expiry. Each purchase should be entered with its batch and expiry. The software should sell the earliest-expiry batch first and refuse to sell expired stock.
4. Alerts. Low-stock and near-expiry lists you can act on before the medicine is gone or wasted.
5. Purchases and suppliers. Record purchase bills, returns to suppliers, and see what you owe each supplier.
6. Returns from customers. Taking a medicine back should put it back in stock and refund the right amount, including any discount.
7. GST reports. A sales register and a purchase register with CGST, SGST and IGST split, so your CA does not rebuild them by hand.
8. Printing and sharing. A 58mm thermal receipt for the counter, an A4 bill when needed, and the bill on WhatsApp for customers who want it.
9. Drug schedule. Each medicine should carry its schedule (H, H1, X) so staff know when to ask for a prescription.
10. Any device, no installation. Cloud software that works in a browser keeps working when a computer breaks — and the owner can check sales from home.
11. Clear yearly price. Ask whether the price is per user, per counter or per store, and what support costs. See our guide on clinic software prices in India for the hidden costs to ask about.

Mistakes that cause stock and money problems

• Box MRP entered as tablet MRP. If the box costs ₹450 and you enter ₹450 per tablet, every sale is wrong. Enter the MRP of the unit you are buying.
• Skipping the purchase entry. Stock added without a purchase has no batch, no expiry and no cost — your profit report becomes a guess.
• Expired stock left on the shelf. Check the expiring list every week and return what the supplier will take.
• Wrong GST rate on a medicine. Set the rate once per medicine, and check it with your CA when rates change.
• Gaps in the H1 register. Write it at the time of sale, not at the end of the day.

Hospital pharmacy or doctor's own dispensary

A pharmacy inside a hospital follows the same rules as a medical store when it sells to the public. The difference is the workflow: the medicines the doctor prescribes should reach the pharmacy without anyone retyping them.

A registered doctor who only supplies medicines to their own patients does not need a drug sale licence (Schedule K, entry 5 of the Drugs Rules), provided they do not run an open shop, buy from licensed dealers and keep proper records. If you sell to anyone who walks in, you need a licence and a registered pharmacist.

How OPDly helps

OPDly's pharmacy module is billing software for a medical store or a hospital pharmacy:

• New Sale with barcode scanning or name search and Enter to add, strip and tablet units, per-line and whole-bill discount, and cash, UPI, card or split payment.
• Every stock entry has a batch and expiry; sales pick the earliest-expiry batch automatically and expired stock is never sold.
• Low-stock and expiring alerts, purchases, supplier returns and a supplier ledger.
• Customer returns put stock back and refund fairly, discount included.
• Sales, purchase and stock registers with CGST, SGST and IGST, plus fast- and slow-moving medicines.
• Pharmacy bills carry a running bill number and, once you add it in Billing Settings, your drug licence number — as Rule 65 requires.
• A 58mm thermal receipt, an A4 PDF bill, or the bill on WhatsApp.
• Each medicine can carry its drug schedule (H, H1, X, G or OTC). OPDly does not keep the Schedule H1 register for you yet, so keep that as you do today.
• In a hospital, medicines from the doctor's prescription flow straight to the pharmacy for dispensing.

Pharmacy is included from the Standard plan, at ₹799 a month billed yearly. Start a free 30-day trial or see all plans.

Frequently asked questions

Is the drug licence number required on a pharmacy bill?

Yes. Rule 65 of the Drugs Rules, 1945 requires every retail cash or credit memo to show the dealer's name, address and sale licence number, along with the memo's serial number and the name and quantity of each drug.

How long must a medical store keep the Schedule H1 register?

Three years. Each Schedule H1 sale is recorded at the time of supply with the prescriber's name and address, the patient's name, the drug and the quantity, and the register must be open for inspection.

Can a Schedule H medicine be sold again on the same prescription?

Only if the doctor has written on the prescription that it may be repeated, and how many times. Otherwise a Schedule H or H1 prescription is dispensed once.

Can a doctor give medicines from the clinic without a drug licence?

A registered doctor may supply medicines to their own patients without a drug sale licence, as long as they do not run an open shop, buy from licensed dealers and keep records. Selling to the public needs a licence and a registered pharmacist.

Can I run medical shop billing software on a phone or tablet?

With cloud software, yes. OPDly works in any browser on a computer, tablet or phone, and a USB or Bluetooth barcode scanner can be used at the counter.