Pesticide Industry Seeks Tighter Rules for Online Sales and Traceability

India's crop protection industry wants online pesticide sales brought firmly under the same legal umbrella that governs the conventional market, and it made that case again this week. On September 16, 2026, CropLife India (CIL), an industry association representing 17 crop protection companies, roughly 70 percent of the market and 95 percent of the molecules registered in the country, demanded that e-commerce pesticide sales follow the same rules and licensing standards as physical retail.

Rahul Dhanuka, managing director of Dhanuka Agritech and a CIL representative, said online platforms currently "fall significantly out of the ambit of the law," leaving gaps in traceability and accountability toward farmers and consumers. He argued that since these platforms are already part of the marketplace, they should face the same regulatory obligations as any conventional seller. Dhanuka said a dedicated chapter addressing digital and e-commerce platforms should be written into the draft Pesticides Management Bill, the legislation the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has proposed to modernize India's pesticide regulatory framework.

This is not a new complaint from the industry. At a CropLife India conference in January 2026, chairman Ankur Aggarwal said, "Pesticide is a regulated industry, and the entire supply chain should follow the regulatory framework," and called for mandatory authorisation certificates to keep counterfeit products off e-commerce sites. Aggarwal noted that online sales still make up less than 1 percent of India's roughly ₹26,000 crore pesticide market, but that visibility on e-commerce platforms has grown since the government first permitted online sales in 2021. CropLife India has separately said e-commerce sellers are not currently required to obtain licences, verify seller credentials or observe the geographic sales restrictions that apply to physical retailers.

It's worth being precise about what has and has not changed. Under the Insecticides Act, 1968, pesticides can only be sold by licensed sellers, for specific products listed on their licence, within approved geographic areas, backed by a valid certificate from the manufacturer or importer. That framework has not been rewritten to specifically address online marketplaces, which is exactly the gap CIL says needs closing.

Separately, the government has already moved on a related but distinct front. The Insecticides (Amendment) Rules, 2026, notified in mid-June and effective from September 15, 2026, make online licensing, digital stock records and electronic monthly returns mandatory for manufacturers, importers, sellers and distributors. That reform digitises compliance across the existing licensed trade; it does not, on its own, create the e-commerce-specific rules the industry is asking for.

Government officials have signalled openness to the industry's broader ask without committing to specific measures. P K Singh, Agriculture Commissioner at the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, said quality assurance and traceability for online pesticide sales merit consideration under the Pesticides Management Bill. Subhash Chand, secretary of the Central Insecticides Board and Registration Committee, has said responsibility for quality and farmer safety should be shared between platforms and manufacturers as online sales expand.

For now, the draft Pesticides Management Bill does not explicitly address these e-commerce gaps, according to CIL. Whether a dedicated chapter on digital platforms, mandatory authorisation certificates, or stronger batch-level traceability measures make it into the final legislation remains an open question, one the industry, regulators and e-commerce platforms will likely keep negotiating as India's draft pesticide law moves toward its next stage.