Legal Age Of Smoking May Increase From 18 to 21 Years
The Central Government has prepared a new bill to increase the age for allowing sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 years to 21 years of age.
The Central Government has prepared a bill to amend the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003. This bill would be the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Amendment Act, 2020. This bill has proposed to raise the age for allowing sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to 21 years from the current 18 years and is being piloted by the Union Health Ministry.
Under the amendments proposed in the bill, "No person shall sell, offer for sale, or permit sale of, cigarette or any other tobacco product - (a) to or by any person who is under twenty-one years of age, and in an area within a radius of one hundred meters of any educational institution." For sale of illicit cigarettes and tobacco products, there will be a punishment of imprisonment of 1 year and a fine of Rs 50,000 and a second conviction of imprisonment of 2 years and Rs 1 lakh. The fine on manufacture of illicit cigarettes is imprisonment of 2 years and fine of Rs 1 lakh. The penalty for smoking at restricted areas is being increased from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000.
As per the amendments cigarettes or any other tobacco product shall be in sealed, intact and original packaging and no person shall produce, supply or distribute cigarettes or any other tobacco products without packaging and it should have the minimum quantity as may be prescribed. Breaking the rule will lead to imprisonment of two years or fine going up to Rs 1 lakh and second conviction leading to prison for 5 years or fine going up to Rs 5 lakh.
