We’d like to put together the History of Tobacco Legislation in India under various Governments, mostly the Congress that was at the helm of affairs without any regards to the Public Health. This compendium listed in the article should stand as a History to the new generation to know how good the Congress party has been in enforcing the ban on cancer causing Tobacco products.
- 1975 Cigarettes Act 1975 introduced, which mandated text warnings on cigarette packs
- 1990 Ban on smoking in select enclosed public places such as educational institutions, conference halls, planes, trains and buses
- 1991 Ban on movie scenes that endorse consumption of tobacco in any form
- 1995 Parliamentary Committee recommended a) stricter health warnings extended across tobacco forms, b) total ban on
advertisements and sponsorship, c) ban on sale of tobacco to minors, d) implementation of strict penalties - 2000 Ban on direct/indirect advertisements related to tobacco on cable TV
- 2001 Supreme Court delivered judgment prohibiting smoking in public places. 2001 Tobacco Control Bill introduced in Rajya Sabha, which recommended a) ban on advertisement except on packages and point of sale, b) regulation of trade/production/supply and distribution of tobacco products, c) control of tobacco in the hands of the central government, d) mandatory pictorial warnings, e) ban on sale of tobacco products in vicinity of educational institutions, f) provision of smoking zones in hotels, restaurants and airports
- 2003 The Tobacco Control Bill eventually became an Act of Parliament known as the COPTA (Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act )
- 2003 – India’s first comprehensive legislative framework for tobacco control 2004 India became party to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
- 2004 Ban on sale of tobacco products to minors. Ban on advertising tobacco products except on the package and inside stores
- 2005 Ban on depiction of tobacco use in films Ban on display of tobacco products. Restriction on point-of-sale advertising. Ban on vending machines
- 2008 Ban on smoking in public places. Designated smoking areas in hotels, restaurants and airports.
- 2009 Pictorial warnings on all tobacco products on 40% of the front of the package. Ban on misleading descriptors (such as “mild”, “ultra light”) on packs. Ban on sale of tobacco products near educational institutions
- 2010 Ban on FDI for manufacturing tobacco products Health warnings must be rotated every two years
- 2011 Ban on sale of tobacco products in plastic pouches. Second set of pictorial warnings implemented
- 2013 Stronger pictorial warnings implemented. Ban on sale, manufacture and storage of gutka and pan masala
- 2014 Stricter pictorial warnings. Recommended ban on sale of single sticks, increase minimum age limit for consumption to 25, raise fine on smoking in public places. Remove designated smoking zones in hotels, pubs, restaurants Stop tobacco companies from publicizing CSR activities