New Delhi, 01 October 2009: Over 46,000 persons have been fined/challaned and over Rs 40, 00,000/ has been collected as fines in Delhi by those violating the no-smoking rules that came into effect on 2 October, 2008. The Government of Delhi admitted that 46,531 people have been fined/challaned since the imposition of the smoking ban last year in a plea filed under the Right to Information Act. The Government, in its reply to the RTI, said that Rs 40, 11,870/ has been generated as fines from 46,531 people.

The smoking ban which came into effect across the country since 2 October 2008 came as a direct result of the efforts of the Voluntary Health Association of India and Advocacy Forum for Tobacco Control.

As a signatory to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, India has an obligation to frame such laws and rules which would ensure the reduction of tobacco consumption and finally the eradication of tobacco use from the country.

Even before India became a signatory to the FCTC, the Government of India had initiated and enacted the national tobacco-control legislation "The Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003" on 18 May, 2003, which is also known as COTPA 2003. This law has many provisions that deal with the issues like minimizing the use of tobacco consumption and smoking, ban on advertising of tobacco products, ban on sale of tobacco products to minors and by minors etc. This law also declares that the government shall try to take steps to make public places across India smoke free.

In 2008 after a prolonged struggle, the efforts of tobacco control activists bore fruit and smoking was banned in all public places in the country since 2 October 2008. As smoking is banned in public places, the government has also clarified as to what constitute "public places". The definition of public places as given in the rule is that all places where the members of the general public has access to, whether as a matter of right or otherwise, is a public place. These include markets, workplaces, airports, railway stations, bus stands, hotels, restaurants, cinema halls, theatres etc.

With the implementation of the no-smoking rule in Delhi, we saw that on the whole the law was being followed in the National Capital Region. An RTI query was filed to find out the effectiveness of the law and whether the enforcement agencies are fulfilling their duties in connection with the law. The answers and the figures proved that the law has been strictly implemented in Delhi.

Ms Bhavna Mukhopadhyay, Executive Director, VHAI said that "the implementation of the no smoking rules in Delhi and strong enforcement shows the government's commitment towards tobacco control. It should be emulated by other states to achieve the goal of making the country smoke free. In addition, the Government must ensure that the money collected as fines should be spent on tobacco control and public health issues."

Soon after the smoke free rules came into force, a survey by the Voluntary Health Association of India and Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, a near unanimous majority of Indians (98%) support prohibition of smoking inside public places, including workplaces, restaurants and bars and an overwhelmingly 99% of Indians strongly favour enforcement of smoke-free rules in work places. This survey was conducted through Synovate's Global Omnibus on attitudes and behaviour among consumers in the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.