Flipkart is entering the online healthcare sector through its new vertical Flipkart Health+ and is acquiring a majority stake in online pharmacy and digital healthcare platform SastaSundar.com as part of this development, the company said in a press release. The Walmart-backed e-commerce platform is the latest to enter the crowded online healthcare space despite the regulatory uncertainty around the sector. Reliance acquired a majority stake in NetMeds last August and Tata acquired a majority stake in 1mg in June this year. Meanwhile, Flipkart's rival Amazon launched its online pharmacy in Bangalore in August last year and has since expanded to the whole of Karnataka and Delhi. Leveraging Flipkart's pan-India reach and technology capabilities and SastaSundar’s deep expertise in healthcare, Flipkart Health+ will offer affordable healthcare starting with e-pharmacy and expanding to other healthcare services such as e-diagnostics and e-consultation over time, the company said in its announcement. "This new venture builds on the Flipkart Group’s efforts to address the growing consumer internet ecosystem, providing end-to-end offerings from travel to healthcare as digital technologies continue to democratize access to products and services." – Flipkart Sector growing despite the lack of regulatory certainty Just last week, in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Delhi-based South Chemists and Distributors Association (SCDA) has asked the regulator to reject the initial public offering (IPO) of PharmEasy, one of India's largest online pharmacies, on the grounds that online pharmacies are not legal under Indian law. The Delhi High Court and Madras High Court…
