Ask Veda
A clinic, diagnostic centre or pharmacy answers to the state health department, the drug controller and the pollution board — before the first patient walks in.
What each registration is, who issues it and when it applies to a clinic or pharmacy. Rules vary by state and by size — treat this as the map, and ask us about your exact case.
Mandatory · State health dept
Clinics, nursing homes, hospitals, diagnostic labs and similar facilities must register with the state. States that adopted the Clinical Establishments Act 2010 register under it; others under their own nursing-home or clinical-establishment laws.
Mandatory for clinics · State PCB
Every healthcare facility that generates bio-medical waste needs authorisation from the state pollution control board, and must segregate its waste and hand it to a common bio-medical waste treatment facility.
Mandatory in most states · State labour dept
Registers a shop, office, restaurant or other commercial establishment under the state's Shops and Establishments Act. Who must register, and the exemptions, differ from state to state.
If you sell or stock medicines · State drug controller
Selling, stocking or distributing medicines — retail or wholesale — needs a drug licence from the state licensing authority. A retail chemist must work under a registered pharmacist; a wholesaler under a registered pharmacist or an experienced competent person.
Healthcare services are exempt; medicines and products are taxable
Required once aggregate turnover crosses the threshold — ₹40 lakh for goods and ₹20 lakh for services in most states — and in some cases from the first sale, such as most inter-state supplies of goods.
If you manufacture devices · CDSCO
Manufacturing medical devices needs a licence under the Medical Devices Rules 2017 — from the state authority for class A/B devices, from CDSCO for class C/D.
In states that levy it
A state tax on professions, trades and employment, levied in states such as Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal. Employers register and deduct it from salaries.
10 / 20+ employees · EPFO, ESIC
Provident fund applies from 20 employees and ESI from 10 (in notified areas). Registration is due once you cross the count, and monthly contributions follow.
Some registrations need another one first — this is the sequence that avoids rework.
After the registrations come the returns and filings that keep you compliant.
GST returns, bookkeeping, TDS and annual filings — everything a business like yours has to keep doing, in one place.
See the compliance pack →City guides with the local authorities, fees and timelines.
What people starting a clinic or pharmacy ask us most.
Healthcare services by a clinical establishment or a registered medical practitioner are exempt. GST applies to taxable supplies — medicines sold separately from treatment, cosmetic procedures, products — so register once those cross the threshold.
States that adopted the Clinical Establishments Act 2010 register under it; others have their own laws, such as nursing-home Acts. Either way, most clinics must register.
Under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules 2016, every facility that generates bio-medical waste needs authorisation from the state pollution control board and must hand its waste to a common treatment facility.
Every sector, with its own checklist.
A CA or CS confirms which of these apply to you, in your state, and handles the ones we cover.