A procedure for the colorimetric assay of praziquantel has been developed. The method is based on the formation of charge-transfer complexes with p-chloranil (I), dichloronitrophenol (II), 2,3-dichloro-5,6 dicyano-p-benzoquinone (III), 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (IV) and tetracyanoethylene (V) as π-acceptors to give highly coloured species. The coloured products are measured spectrophotometrically at 550, 425, 460, 844 and 393 nm for I, II, III, IV and V, respectively. Optimization of the different reaction conditions is described. The colour system obeyed Beer’s law in non-aqueous media in the concentration range 2.0–48 μg ml−1. It was stable for at least 4.0 h. The detection limit was found to be 0.6 μg ml−1. Applications of the procedure to the analysis of various pharmaceutical samples gave reproducible and accurate results. Further, the validity of the procedure was confirmed by applying the standard addition technique. The total average recovery was 100.2%.