The Documentation You Need Before You Pack
Carry the original prescription from a registered medical practitioner for every medication in your bag. For travel abroad, get a letter on the doctor's letterhead that states your name, the drug's generic name (not just the brand), the dosage, the condition it treats, and the duration of travel. A prescription alone, especially one written in Hindi or a regional language, may not satisfy a foreign customs officer who cannot read it.For travel within India, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act does not require you to carry a prescription for most over-the-counter drugs, but for Schedule H and Schedule H1 drugs, antibiotics, antidepressants, sleeping aids, opioid-based painkillers, a valid prescription is mandatory at the point of purchase and advisable to carry during travel. State borders do not have pharmaceutical checkpoints, but airlines and railway security can question unlabelled or large quantities of any drug.Keep medication in its original packaging. A strip of tablets in a zip-lock bag, stripped of its foil label, is the fastest way to trigger a secondary screening at any airport.
