Draft Bill moots heavy fine for smoking in restricted areas

The Centre has cracked the whip on consumption of cigarettes and tobacco products by proposing a slew of amendments to the (COTPA) Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Amendment) Bill 2015.

Details of the Draft Bill:

• It proposes to do away with on-site advertising of tobacco products. Which means kiosks and shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products will no longer be able to display the brand names.

• To prevent exposure of non-smokers to harmful emissions, the Health Ministry has proposed scrapping designated smoking areas from hotels, restaurants and airports; making an exception only for international airports.

• The penalty for smoking in restricted areas has been upped from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000.

• Anyone found producing tobacco products without the specified warning will be liable for imprisonment for up to two years for the first offence or fine up to Rs. 50,000 or both. For the second and subsequent offences the imprisonment can be up to five years with a fine of up to Rs. 1 lakh.

• Selling products without warning will incur a fine of up to Rs. 10,000 or a jail term of up to one year or both; subsequent offence will draw a fine of up to Rs. 25,000 and a jail term of two years.

• Tobacco products and cigarettes in approved packaging (which have pictorial warnings across the designated area of the pack) will now be sold only to those above 21 years of age. The proposed age limit will be revised to 23 and 25 in two phases after evaluating the impact of raising the minimum age.

About COTPA Act:

• It is an Act of Parliament of India enacted in 2003 to prohibit advertisement and regulation of tobacco business in India. The Act put restriction on tobacco products including cigarettes, gutka, panmasala (containing tobacco), cigar, cheerot, Beedi, Snuff, chewing tobacco, hookah, tooth powder containing tobacco.

• It was enacted mainly to discourage the consumption of Cigarettes and other Tobacco products through imposing progressive restrictions and to protect non-smokers from second hand smoke.

The Key provisions under the Act include :

• Prohibition of smoking in public places

• Prohibition on all forms of direct / indirect advertisement, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products

• Prohibition and sale of tobacco products to minors (any person who is under eighteen years of age)

• Prohibition and sale of tobacco products in an area within a radius of one hundred yards of any educational institution

• Mandatory depiction of specified health warnings on all tobacco products