The government on Wednesday banned production, import and sale of
e-cigarettes and similar products, citing health risk to people, especially youth, and an ordinance will be brought in to make it an offence, entailing jail term up to three years as well as fine.
The decision, taken by the Union cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also hit the plans of foreign companies such as Juul Labs and Philip Morris International (PM.N) to enter the Indian market.
"The Cabinet today gave approval to a decision to ban e-cigarettes which is also otherwise technically called the ENDS (Electronic nicotine delivery systems), which means production, manufacturing, import, export, transport, sale, distribution and storage and advertisement related to e cigarettes are all banned," said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who had headed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue.
First-time violators will face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs one lakh, and for subsequent offences, a jail term of up to three years or a fine of Rs 5 lakh, or both have been prescribed, she said.
Storage of electronic-cigarettes shall also be punishable with an imprisonment up to 6 months or fine up to Rs 50,000 or both.
According to an official statement, the owners of existing stocks of e-cigarettes on the date of commencement of the ordinance will have to declare and deposit the stocks with the nearest police station.
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The government will immediately pass an ordinance, subject to the approval of the President, and the matter will be taken up in the next Parliament session, she said.
However, e-cigarettes promoting trade bodies, users and other stakeholders slammed the government's move to ban the "alternative" smoking device through the ordinance route, alleging it was a "draconian" step taken in haste to protect the conventional cigarette industry.
Association of Vapers India (AVI), an organisation representing e-cigarette users, also alleged that it is a black day for 11 crore smokers in India who have been deprived of safer options.
There was no immediate reaction from Philip Morris International.
Meanwhile, after the cabinet decision, cigarette stocks gained up to 5.5 per cent with shares of Godfrey Phillips India jumped 5.55 per cent and Golden Tobacco climbed 4.69 per cent on the BSE.
Likewise, VST Industries rose by 3.43 per cent and ITC gained 1.03 per cent.
Quoting reports, Sitharaman said for some youths e-cigarettes were becoming a "style statement" and "some who are probably getting into the habit of e-cigarettes as it seems cool. It is believed that there are more than 400 brands, none of which is manufactured yet in India. And they come in over 150 flavours."
Asserting that the decision was taken, keeping in mind their impact on the youth of today, she also quoted data, which she claimed was largely derived from the US' experience, to highlight that there has been a 77.8 percent increase in the use of e-cigarettes among school students and that surprisingly, use of such products by middle school students has also seen a rise of 48.5 percent.
Many Science based journals have already said that nearly 3 million people in US are regular users of e-cigarettes and in a matter of four to five years, between 2011 and 2015-16, there has been over 900 per cent growth in e-cigarettes in US, she said.
During the press briefing on the cabinet decisions, Sitharaman also showed e-cigarettes, which she asserted are easy and simple to use.
"It is believed that there are more than 400 brands, none of which is manufactured yet in India. And they come in over 150 flavours...also it is odourless. As a result somebody who smokes a cigarette will probabely smell even after he throws away the cigarette but with e-cigarettes you don't even get the odour," she said.
"But one important aspect, the smoke which is exhaled by the users of e-cigarettes contains very high level of residual nicotine which for people around standing as passive smokers, who accidently inhale, will affect them badly too. So the impact of e-cigarettes although it appears cool, has already cost a lot of concern in the US and many western countries," she said.
Referring to reports of seven deaths in the US directly linked to e-cigarettes, the minister said many people will say the long term direct impact of e-cigarettes is yet to be scientifically established.
"But the Cabinet rightly thought its time we immediately we took a decision so that the health of our citizens is not thrown to risk," she said.
The official statement also said unlike the tried and tested nicotine and non-nicotine pharmacotherapies that are known to help people quit tobacco use, the WHO does not endorse e-cigarettes as cessation aids.
Apart from nicotine, e-cigarettes may also be used for delivery of other psychoactive substances, it added.
The possibility of tobacco industry interference in tobacco cessation efforts through misinformation about the potential benefits of these products, which are presented as alternatives but in most cases are complementary to the use of conventional tobacco products, also is a present and real possibility, the statement said.
Widespread use and unchecked proliferation of e-cigarettes and the like devices would seriously undermine and derail Government's efforts to reduce the prevalence of tobacco use.
Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan said a debate on whether e- cigarettes and similar products are more harmful than tobacco cigarettes was of little help.
"Why are we debating whether it it more or less harmful...it is a good move to ban it," she told reporters at the cabinet briefing here.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said it is a preventive step and it is always better to prevent health risks at a later stage of life.
The ordinance will come into force once approved by the President. It will be converted into a bill in the next session of Parliament.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan is out of the country and was not present in Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.
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