Civic body issues an order directing all sellers to sport a new signage announcing prohibition of sale to and by those below the age of 18.
It has been a roller coaster week for anti-tobacco activists. They received a setback a few days ago when the state government slashed the value-added tax on tobacco products from 12% to 5%. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s order issued on Monday, however, gave them a fillip.
The order states that shops selling tobacco products will have to change their signage and put up a new sign (right) with a white background, 60x30 cm in size, which clearly mentions that cigarettes being sold to and by those below the age of 18 is a punishable offence.
The sign will also have tobacco-related pictures, besides those of cancer-stricken patients.
This rule is not new. The very same guidelines were included in the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA, 2003), but they hadn’t been implemented. A study conducted in 2011 by the Salaam Bombay Foundation found gross violation of the law by shops selling tobacco products. This time around, though, activists are confident that the law will have a substantial impact.
“This time, the COTPA has been included in the Shops and Establishment Act. This means as penalty, the shop’s licence will be suspended, besides the seizure of tobacco products. This is a more stringent penalty than the Rs 200-fine earlier,” said Devika Chaddha, director of Salaam Bombay Foundation.
Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, a head and neck cancer surgeon at KEM Hospital, said, “Now, the onus of compliance with section 6 (of COTPA) has been shifted to the owner of the shop, rather than on civil society or the enforcement agency. This means that it will be the shopkeeper’s responsibility to provide proof that the buyer of a tobacco product is not below the age of 18. This model worked very well when section 4 (prohibition of smoking at hotels and restaurants) of the COPTA was tied up with the licence, following Bombay high court order. All states and cities should follow this model.”
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