Uploading your first prescription: what happens next

Many of our older customers’ children order for them from another city, and the first upload is often a little uncertain. Here is what happens after you press send.

First, take a clear photo of the whole prescription in daylight, flat on a table. We need to see the doctor’s name, the date, the patient’s name and every medicine with its dose. A cropped or blurred photo is the most common reason for a delay. If the prescription has more than one page, upload each page.

Within about 20 minutes, one of our pharmacists, perhaps Ritika or Arnab, calls the number on the order. They read back each medicine, the strength and how many strips you need, ask whether the patient is already taking it, and tell you the total before anything is packed. If a medicine is out of stock, they say so on that call and do not change it without your agreement or your doctor’s.

Once you confirm, the order is picked, checked a second time by a different pharmacist against the prescription, sealed in a paper bag with the printed bill stapled outside and handed to a delivery rider. In south Kolkata it usually reaches you within two hours of the call. You pay by UPI, card or cash at the door. The bill lists the batch number and expiry for each item. Keep the prescription photo on your phone; for monthly medicines we save it, so your next order can be placed with one WhatsApp message.