Two months have passed since 14 states banned the production, sale and marketing of gutkha. But the product is still available at a premium, including in Delhi.
Retailers continue to sell gutkha sachets to their regular customers. However, there is no display of the product at the shops, and it is difficult for new customers to obtain it.
“The product is banned in Delhi, but not everywhere. The distributors get gutkha sachets from the neighbouring states where it is not banned, and supply these to us on faith. We don’t not display these, and never sell it to unknown customers,” said street retailers in Delhi.
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Earlier, four sachets of gutkha used to cost Rs 10, but now retailers are selling two to three sachets for the same amount, depending on the location.
Companies, however, are following the government orders and are not “officially” producing or selling or marketing gutkha in the states where the product is banned.
The states that have banned gutkha include Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Punjab and Goa.
Interestingly, the companies have already adopted a new way of selling their products by cleverly bypassing the ban. Instead of the earlier “ready-to-consume mixes”, companies are now selling gutkha in a new avatar — chewing tobacco and paan masala are now sold in separate sachets.
When the two packs are mixed, consumers get a substitute for gutkha. This sales trick does not violate any law. DS Group has been selling Rajnigandha paan masala and Tulsi chewing tobacco separately for years. These two are normally mixed for consumption.
According to retailers in Delhi, companies had recalled their gutkha stocks immediately after the ban was implemented and replaced those with the fresh product mix.
Meanwhile, companies have been offering incentives to salespersons to boost sales of the new substitutes for gutkha, according to an industry source. The incentives include cars and bikes, among others.
At retail stores in Delhi, Shikhar paan masala and chewing tobacco together are being sold at Rs 3, though each of the sachets is priced at Rs 1. “If you need it, buy at this price,” say retailers. They are also offering four units each of paan masala and chewing tobacco at Rs 10.
Clearly, the products are being sold at a much higher price than the maximum retail price.
Within a few days after states announced the ban, the Smokeless Tobacco Association, in collaboration with other industry bodies, had issued advertisements saying it was unfair to ban their products when the tobacco content in these was lower than that in cigarettes.
The advertisements mentioned that one pouch of gutkha contains 0.2 gramme of tobacco as against 0.63 gramme in a cigarette.
