What must a prescription contain in India? The council's list, the chemist's list, and the clause behind each line.

A prescription in India must carry your full name and designation, your recognised qualifications, your registration number with the name of the council that issued it, the date, the patient's name and address, each medicine by its generic name written legibly, the total quantity to be supplied and how it is to be taken, a note if you dispensed it yourself, and your signature. Those lines come from two places: the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, which your state medical council enforces against you, and rule 65 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, which tells a chemist what a prescription must show before selling a Schedule H, H1 or X medicine.

This post is the checklist. The generic-name clause on its own, including capital letters, brand names in brackets and the December 2025 NMC notice, has its own post: generic name prescription rules. How long to keep copies is in how long to keep medical records, and whether a printed or WhatsApp prescription is valid is in are printed and digital prescriptions valid.

Which rules decide what goes on a prescription?

Three documents, with different weight. The first is the 2002 conduct regulations. The NMC notified its own Registered Medical Practitioner (Professional Conduct) Regulations on 2 August 2023, then held them in abeyance on 23 August 2023 (No. R-12013/01/2022/Ethics) and adopted the 2002 regulations "with immediate effect". We checked the NMC e-gazette page on 27 October 2026 and found no later professional-conduct notification, so the 2002 text is the one your council applies.

The second is the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. Rule 65 sets the conditions for a retail chemist. It does not regulate the doctor directly, but a prescription that misses its items is one the chemist is not allowed to fill for a Schedule H, H1 or X medicine. We read rule 65 in the CDSCO consolidated copy, which is amended up to 31 December 2016; check the Gazette for any later change to rule 65 before relying on a single word.

The third is the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines of 25 March 2020, which became Appendix 5 of the 2002 regulations by the amendment of 12 May 2020. They say a teleconsult prescription is issued "as per" the 2002 regulations and "shall not contravene the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules", and Annexure 2 gives a sample format. That sample is the closest thing to an official layout.

What does the NMC conduct code require on every prescription?

Six clauses of the 2002 regulations touch the prescription paper. Each one is short enough to quote.

• 3.7.2: "A physician shall write his name and designation in full along with registration particulars in his prescription letter head."
• 1.4.1: "Every physician shall display the registration number accorded to him by the State Medical Council / Medical Council of India in his clinic and in all his prescriptions, certificates, money receipts given to his patients." Regulation 7.3 lists not displaying it on prescriptions as misconduct.
• 7.13: the signboard may carry your name, qualifications from a university or statutory body, titles, the name of your speciality, and your "registration number including the name of the State Medical Council under which registered". It then says: "The same should be the contents of his prescription papers."
• 1.4.2: only "recognized medical degrees or such certificates/diplomas and memberships/honours which confer professional knowledge" may follow your name.
• 1.5, as substituted in the Gazette of 8 October 2016: "Every physician should prescribe drugs with generic names legibly and preferably in capital letters and he/she shall ensure that there is a rational prescription and use of drugs".
• 3.7.1: "Prescription should also make clear if the Physician himself dispensed any medicine."

Clause 6.3 adds one more line for medicines you dispense or that are bought from the market for a patient: they "should explicitly state the proprietary formulae as well as generic name of the drug." Clause 6.1.2 works the other way and says what must not be printed: a self photograph or "any such material of publicity" on the letterhead is self-advertisement.

What does a chemist need to see under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules?

Rule 65(9)(a) says Schedule H, Schedule H1 and Schedule X substances "shall not be sold by retail except on and in accordance with the prescription of a Registered Medical Practitioner". Rule 65(10) then says what such a prescription is:

(a) be in writing and be signed by the person giving it with his usual signature and be dated by him; (b) specify the name and address of the person for whose treatment it is given ...; (c) indicate the total amount of the medicine to be supplied and the dose to be taken.

Two of these are easy to miss at a busy OPD. The patient's address is on the chemist's list, not only the name. And "the total amount of the medicine to be supplied" means a quantity, or a duration from which the chemist can work out a quantity, rather than a frequency alone. What dose and how much is your clinical decision; the rule only asks that the prescription states it.

Rule 65(11) adds conditions for the chemist that depend on what you write. A Schedule H, H1 or X prescription "must not be dispensed more than once unless the prescriber has stated thereon that it may be dispensed more than once", and if it says a stated number of times or at stated intervals, it is dispensed only that way. If you intend a repeat, the prescription has to say so. For Schedule X, rule 65(9)(a) also says "the prescriptions shall be in duplicate, one copy of which shall be retained by the licensee for a period of two years." Rule 65(11-A) bars the chemist from supplying any other preparation in place of a Schedule H, H1 or X substance you prescribed.

What is the full list, line by line?

Is there an official prescription format?

Not for an in-person visit. The 2002 regulations list what must be on the paper but give no form. Annexure 2 of the Telemedicine Practice Guidelines, "Sample Prescription Format", lays out the practitioner's name, qualification, registration number, address and contact details at the top; the date of consultation, patient name, age, gender, with weight and LMP where relevant; chief complaints, relevant history, examination or lab findings, suggested investigations, and diagnosis or provisional diagnosis; each medicine as "NAME OF MEDICINE (in capital letters only with generic name) drug form, strength, frequency of administration & duration"; special instructions; and "RMPs Signature & Stamp". It is a sample written for teleconsultation, so use it as a reference layout rather than a form you are bound to copy.

The NMC's 2023 regulations, which are not in force, would have added that "All signatures in the notes, prescriptions, certificates, orders, referral summaries etc, should carry the RMP's name and NMC Registration number" (regulation 28). If those regulations are re-notified, that is the line to re-check.

To see these lines on an A4 or A5 page, the free prescription format tool builds a letterhead in the browser with the registration number and a generic-name medicine table.

What does not belong on a prescription?

• Your photograph or publicity material on the letterhead (6.1.2).
• Degrees, memberships or "specialities" that are not recognised qualifications (1.4.2, 7.13).
• Anything on the prescription paper that would not be allowed on your signboard, since 7.13 says the two have the same contents.
• Unreadable shorthand. Clause 1.5 makes legibility the test, for printed and handwritten prescriptions alike.

A checklist for your pad or template

1. Name and designation in full, recognised qualifications only, registration number with the council's name, clinic address and phone.
2. A date line and space for the patient's name, age, gender and address.
3. A medicine area that fits each generic name in capitals on its own line, with strength, form, how it is taken and for how long.
4. A place to write the total quantity or duration, so a chemist can fill it under rule 65(10)(c).
5. A way to write a repeat instruction when you mean one.
6. A tick or line for medicines you dispensed yourself.
7. Room for your signature at the end, and your stamp if you use one.
8. A copy of every prescription kept, so you can hand it over within 72 hours if the patient asks.