Is Levocet banned in India?

Levocet is Hetero's brand of levocetirizine, a second-generation antihistamine used for allergic rhinitis and urticaria. Levocetirizine is not banned in India, and neither is Levocet.

The confusion comes from the August 2024 ban on 156 fixed-dose combinations, which removed a whole family of levocetirizine cold tablets: levocetirizine with phenylephrine, with phenylephrine and paracetamol, with menthol added, and with ambroxol plus paracetamol or phenylephrine. Those combinations were sold under dozens of brand names, many beginning with "Levo", and news summaries listed the ingredient rather than the brands. The regulator's stated reason was the same as for the rest of the list: no therapeutic justification for combining an antihistamine with a decongestant and an analgesic in one tablet.

Single-ingredient levocetirizine was not touched. Levocet M, which pairs levocetirizine with montelukast for allergic asthma and rhinitis, was not touched either; the three-drug version with ambroxol was among the 35 unapproved combinations halted by the CDSCO on 11 April 2025.

The exact S.O. numbers for the levocetirizine entries should be read from the CDSCO's official PDF rather than from news numbering. For patients, the check is the ingredient list: levocetirizine alone or with montelukast is fine, levocetirizine with phenylephrine or ambroxol is not.