The government today sought public comments on the proposed amendments to anti-tobacco laws which seek to end the sale of loose cigarettes in India and enhance the legal age for tobacco use and purchase from 18 to 21 years.
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade) Amendment Bill 2015 which incorporates these changes apart from another that seeks to effect five-fold hike for smoking in public places (from Rs200 to Rs1000); making offences under the law cognisable and imposing a ban on advertisement of tobacco on points of sale such as kiosks.
The amendments have been inducted based on the report of a high -level committee set up earlier to recommend changes in the anti -tobacco laws. The committee had recommended the ban on sale of single cigarette (loose) sticks, raising the legal age for cigarette purchase from 18 to 25 years, enhancing penalty for smoking in public places and imposing a blanket ban on advertisement of tobacco products on the points of sale such as kiosks.
The government in the final draft of amendment Bill put up on the Ministry of Health website today has called for raising the legal age for purchase of tobacco from 18 to 21 years instead of 25 years as recommended by the expert committee. The amendments are being proposed to the 2003 law. The move will help policy planners deter cigarette use among the younger populations, say experts who feel the ban on loose cigarettes will ensure the young don’t have access to cheap tobacco.