No Sale of Cigarettes to Persons Below 21: ADC Directs Regular Inspections
Mangaluru: Cigarettes and other tobacco products must not be sold to persons below 21, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Raju K. said.
He was speaking on Friday while chairing a meeting of the District-Level Coordination Committee of the Dakshina Kannada District Tobacco Control Cell at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
Raju said that, following amendments made to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act in 2024, the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to persons below 21 years of age is prohibited. The sale of cigarettes individually, instead of in packs, is also prohibited. In addition, the sale of tobacco products is banned within 100 metres of educational institutions. He also clarified that people who sell tobacco products in shops must be at least 21 years old.
To ensure effective enforcement of the law, all urban local bodies and gram panchayats must conduct regular inspections of shops, hotels and cafes, he said. If cigarettes or other tobacco products are found to have been sold to minors, the licences of the establishments concerned should be cancelled.
The ADC directed the District Tobacco Control Cell, Health Department, urban local bodies and gram panchayats to conduct joint enforcement drives in coordination with the police.
Cigarettes must be sold only in full packs, and there is no provision under the law for opening a pack and selling cigarettes individually, Raju said. Action should also be taken against establishments that keep lighters or matchboxes to facilitate smoking.
He directed officials to take action against people found smoking or consuming tobacco and spitting in public places. A fine of Rs 1,000 should be imposed in accordance with the rules, along with a warning. Officials should conduct inspections and enforcement drives regularly and submit a report on the action taken at the next meeting, he instructed.
The ADC also directed the School Education Department and the Pre-University Education Department to conduct periodic checks of students’ bags in schools and colleges. They should also ensure that shops located within 100 metres of educational institutions do not sell cigarettes or tobacco products.
School headmasters and School Development and Monitoring Committees (SDMCs) should submit monthly declarations certifying that their institutions are “tobacco-free schools,” he said.
Urban local bodies and gram panchayats should organise awareness programmes against smoking. While issuing licences to shops and hotels, the terms and conditions related to tobacco control laws should be incorporated into the licence, Raju said.
District Health Officer Dr. H.R. Thimmaiah, Additional Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar Bhumireddy, ACP Nazma Farooqui, Wenlock Hospital Superintendent Dr. Shivaprakash, District Tobacco Control Cell Officer Dr. Naveenchandra Kulal and others were present at the meeting.