Is Crocin banned in India?

Crocin is one of the oldest paracetamol brands in India, now marketed by Haleon. It is not banned and never has been.

Paracetamol on its own is an essential medicine, and the government has not issued any notification under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act against it. The prohibitions that make news, the 344 combinations of 2016, the 328 of 2018, the 156 of 2024 and the 16 of 2026, are all about fixed-dose combinations. Some of them contain paracetamol alongside decongestants, antihistamines or muscle relaxants. A plain paracetamol tablet or syrup is not in any of those lists.

The question about Crocin usually arrives with the same question about Dolo 650, and the answer is the same. Where care is needed is with the wider Crocin range. Crocin Pain Relief contains caffeine, and Crocin cold-and-flu products contain decongestants; those are different licences with different rules. Any product combining chlorpheniramine and phenylephrine now has to carry the "not for children below four years" label introduced in 2025 and extended in August 2026.

If a particular batch of any paracetamol product is flagged as not of standard quality in a CDSCO monthly alert, that applies to the batch printed on the strip, not to the brand.