Brand check
Is D'Cold Total banned in India?
Last checked 21 September 2026
D'Cold Total is legally on sale in India as of 19 Sep 2026: its 2016 ban (S.O. 950(E)) was quashed by the Delhi High Court, and as a pre-1988 FDC it was excluded from the 2018 re-ban pending expert review.
- Classification
- Under examination by the regulator or an expert committee
- Decided by
- CDSCO / Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- Reference
- S.O. 950(E), 10 Mar 2016 (quashed by Delhi HC 1 Dec 2016); Supreme Court order 15 Dec 2017; CPM + PE label condition S.O. 4595(E) 18 Aug 2026
- Latest action
- 18 August 2026
- Last checked
- 21 September 2026
Photo: Cocillana.JPG by Xanor (CC0). All photo credits.
Scroll: Delhi High Court stays ban on D'Cold, Vicks Action 500 and 300+ medicines
Our team has checked this record against the published reports, last on 21 September 2026. The government order itself is not published online, or we have not found it yet, so we link the best public report. If you have the order, send it to us and we will link it instead.
Scope. A record here does not by itself mean a product or company is unsafe or banned today. Regulatory actions can apply to one batch, one formulation, one period or one state. Always check the linked government document for the current position, and tell us if something is out of date. How we label records.
Below: Blacklisted's explanationWe explain what has been reported. The report above is the best source we hold.
Key facts
- Governing authority
- CDSCO, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
- 2016 notification
- S.O. 950(E), 10 Mar 2016, quashed 1 Dec 2016
- Supreme Court
- 15 Dec 2017: pre-1988 FDCs excluded from re-ban; under review
- 2026 condition
- Contains chlorpheniramine + phenylephrine: 'not for children below four years' label under S.O. 4595(E)
- Old formula
- Phenylpropanolamine-based D'Cold withdrawn after the 2011 PPA ban
- Marketer
- Reckitt
D'Cold Total is Reckitt's four-ingredient cold tablet, paracetamol, phenylephrine, chlorpheniramine and caffeine, and, like Vicks Action 500, its name is permanently attached to the 2016 FDC ban.
The original D'Cold used phenylpropanolamine and was reformulated after the 2011 PPA ban. The reformulated D'Cold Total was then banned on 10 March 2016 under S.O. 950(E), one of 344 combinations prohibited that day. Reckitt and other manufacturers went to the Delhi High Court, which on 1 December 2016 quashed the entire wave for want of consultation with the Drugs Technical Advisory Board. On 15 December 2017 the Supreme Court sent the list back to the Board but excluded combinations licensed before 1988, and D'Cold Total was among those. It stayed off the 328-FDC re-ban of September 2018 and remains on sale while the older combinations are examined by an expert sub-committee.
Two later developments touch it. The June 2023 notification banning 14 of the older FDCs did not, to our knowledge, include this formula; that should be verified against the Gazette. And because the tablet contains chlorpheniramine with phenylephrine, S.O. 4595(E) of 18 August 2026 requires it to carry the "shall not be used in children below four years" condition.
For adults the tablet can be used as labelled. Its longer-term status depends on a review that has not concluded.
What this means for you
Adults can buy and use it
The tablet is on sale and licensed as of today.
Not for children under four
Because it contains chlorpheniramine and phenylephrine, the 2026 label condition applies.
The review is not finished
A future notification on the older FDCs could change its status; we will update this page.
This is a record of official orders, not medical advice. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist.
Batches flagged in CDSCO alerts
No NSQ batch on record. No product matching this name appears in CDSCO or state-lab NSQ alerts from Jan 2019 to July 2026. Absence from the alerts is not proof of quality, check your batch number.
Official sources and primary records
- Scroll: Delhi High Court stays ban on D'Cold, Vicks Action 500 and 300+ medicinesNewsScroll.in · 1 December 2016
- News
- Medical Dialogues: Health ministry restricts chlorpheniramine + phenylephrine FDCs for children below 4, mandates warning labelsNewsMedical Dialogues
- News