Controlled-drug register for Indian vets: H1, X and NDPS

What an Indian vet clinic must record for ketamine and scheduled drugs: Schedule X and H1 rules, NDPS basics, register columns, storage and inspection checks.

By AvanceZone team · Published 01 Oct 2026 · Updated 04 Oct 2026 · 9 min read

Most vet clinics in India hold ketamine, a few hold narcotic analgesics, and all hold Schedule H1 antibiotics. The rules for each are different, the paperwork is real, and a drug inspector or a police complaint will ask for the register. This guide explains the categories in plain language and gives a register format you can start using today. It is general guidance, not legal advice; your State Drugs Control department and the licence conditions on your own premises decide the specifics.

The three categories you will meet

Schedule X (Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945)

Ketamine hydrochloride was moved to Schedule X in 2011 because of diversion. Schedule X drugs need a specific licence to stock and sell, must be kept under lock and key, may be supplied only against a prescription in duplicate, and the retailer keeps a copy of the prescription for two years. A register of receipt and issue, with running balance, is expected and is the first thing an inspector asks for.

Schedule H1

Introduced in 2014 for selected antibiotics (third and fourth generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones such as moxifloxacin, anti-TB drugs) and some habit-forming drugs (tramadol, zolpidem, alprazolam and others). The seller keeps a separate register with the name and address of the prescriber, the name and address of the patient, the name of the drug and the quantity supplied, retained for three years. For a vet dispensing cefovecin or tramadol, "patient" means the animal and the owner.

NDPS Act, 1985 (narcotic and psychotropic substances)

Morphine, fentanyl, buprenorphine, pethidine and pentazocine fall under the NDPS Act and state NDPS rules. Possession requires a licence or recognised institution status, storage is in a locked cabinet, and every receipt and consumption is entered in a bound register with page numbers, counter-signed, and reported periodically. Few small clinics hold these; if you do, treat the register as the single most important document on the premises.

What goes in the register

One register per drug, whether on paper or in software, with these columns for every entry:

Column	What to write
Date and time	Of receipt or of administration or sale
Receipt	Supplier, invoice number, batch, expiry, quantity received
Issue	Patient (animal name, species, owner), quantity used or sold, route, reason
Prescriber	Vet name and registration number
Witness	Second staff member who saw the dose drawn up, for Schedule X and NDPS drugs
Wastage	Quantity discarded (partial vials), witnessed
Balance	Running stock in ml or units after each line

Two rules keep registers honest. First, no deletions: an error is corrected with a new line that references the wrong one. Second, the balance must match the cupboard at any moment; count weekly and sign the count.

Storage, access and prescriptions

Schedule X and NDPS drugs in a locked cabinet; the key with a named person, not in the drawer.
Access limited to vets and one nominated senior nurse. Reception and the pharmacy counter do not need it.
Schedule X supplied against a prescription in duplicate; keep the copy with the register.
Schedule H1 sales recorded with prescriber and owner details, even when the prescriber is you.
Retain registers: 2 years for Schedule X prescriptions, 3 years for Schedule H1, and as the state NDPS rules specify for narcotics (longer).

What inspectors actually check

Is the licence current and does it cover the schedules you hold?
Does the physical count match the register balance today?
Are the entries contemporaneous (not written up at month end)?
Are partial-vial wastages recorded and witnessed?
Can you trace a specific vial, by batch, from invoice to patient?

Clinics fail on points 2 and 4 far more often than on paperwork format. Partial ketamine vials are the classic gap: 2 ml drawn from a 10 ml vial, 8 ml returned to the cupboard, nothing written.

A worked example: one ketamine vial

Here is how a single 10 ml vial of ketamine 50 mg/ml might appear in a well-kept register, from delivery to the last drop:

Date	Entry	Quantity	Balance
2 Oct, 11:05	Received from distributor, invoice 4471, batch KT0921, expiry 03/2028	+10 ml	10 ml
3 Oct, 09:40	Daisy, Indie, 18 kg, owner R. Kumar; spay induction, IV; Dr. Priya (TNVC 7712); witness Nurse Anitha	−1.8 ml	8.2 ml
3 Oct, 15:20	Rocky, GSD, 34 kg, owner S. Mani; sedation for wound repair, IM; Dr. Anand; witness Nurse Anitha	−3.4 ml	4.8 ml
9 Oct, 18:00	Weekly count, signed by Dr. Priya and Nurse Anitha	—	4.8 ml (matches)

Every line answers who, what, when, how much and who saw it. The volume per animal follows from weight × dose rate ÷ strength, which is exactly the calculation a veterinary dose calculator by weight performs, and the reason it makes sense to log the register at the moment the dose is calculated.

A weekly and monthly routine that keeps you ready

Every dose: entry made at the time, with witness for Schedule X and NDPS drugs.
Every week: physical count of each controlled drug against the register balance, signed by two people.
Every month: check expiries and record any destruction of expired stock with a witness; reconcile purchase invoices against receipts.
Every year: renew licences on time, archive closed registers safely, and brief new staff on the rules.

How software makes this automatic

A register maintained by hand is only as good as the busiest afternoon of the month. When the dose is calculated in software from the animal's weight and the vial strength, the register entry can be created at the same moment with the patient, vet, quantity, batch and new balance filled in, and the witness added with one tap. Pet Clinic Software does this for drugs you flag as controlled in your drug master: after the safety checks and the vet's verification, the dose calculator writes the dose to the chart and appends the register line with patient, vet, witness, quantity and running balance; receiving a batch adds a receipt line. Entries are append-only and corrections are new lines with a reason. The register is printable from the browser today; a PDF export is planned. It supports your record-keeping and is not a compliance certification: check its columns and retention against the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, the NDPS Act and your state rules.

Whatever tool you use, start the register today, count the cupboard tonight and sign the count. That single habit answers most of what any inspector will ask. The register is included in every Pet Clinic Software plan from ₹1,499 a month, and the veterinary hospital software page shows how it links to the in-patient whiteboard.

Questions people ask

Is ketamine a controlled drug for vets in India?

Yes. Ketamine hydrochloride has been a Schedule X drug under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945 since 2011. That means licensed stock, locked storage, prescriptions in duplicate and a receipt-and-issue register with a running balance that must match the cupboard at any time.

How long must a Schedule H1 register be kept?

Three years. The Schedule H1 register records the prescriber name and address, the patient and owner, the drug name and the quantity supplied for every sale or dispensing. For a vet, the patient is the animal and the owner is the person recorded with it.

Can a drug register be kept in software instead of a bound book?

Electronic records are widely accepted if entries are contemporaneous, cannot be deleted and can be printed on demand. Check your State Drugs Control office for any format they insist on, and keep a signed monthly printout if asked. NDPS registers usually still need a bound book.

Who should witness a controlled-drug entry?

A second trained staff member, usually a vet or senior nurse, who sees the dose drawn up or the wastage discarded. The witness name goes on the register line. Pet Clinic Software requires a witness name for every dose of a drug flagged as controlled and records it with the vet and the time.