India has banned e-cigarettes and vaping devices. Representative image.
Reuters File Photo
New Delhi: During the period from April to November, 4.2 lakh e-cigarettes were seized, the government informed Parliament on Friday.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Health Prataprao Jadhav said the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes, under the Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement Act (PECA), 2019, was enacted by the government on December 5, 2019, to prohibit electronic-cigarettes and such other devices.
The same was communicated to all the states and Union territories for the implementation of the statute. According to the PECA, the sale of e-cigarettes and like devices are banned in the country.
The government has taken various steps to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes, including the launch of the "Online Violation Portal" for the public to file a complaint about any violation of the PECA, the minister said.
An expert committee has been constituted to review the online complaints for taking appropriate action against the violations, he added.
The government has also taken an initiative to enhance the enforcement of the PECA through the annual tobacco-free youth campaign launched since 2023, Jadhav said.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue has informed that it is keeping a constant vigil and taking operational measures, inter alia, based on intelligence and passenger profiling with the aid of the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS), risk-based interdiction and targeting and non-intrusive inspection like baggage and container scanning for the purposes of thwarting smuggling of e-cigarettes through field formations and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI).
Field formations of the CBIC are regularly sensitised to newer methods of smuggling by way of issuing alerts and modus operandi circulars, Jadhav said.
On detection of contraband-smuggling cases, action is taken in accordance with law, including seizure of smuggled e-cigarettes and arrest and prosecution of those involved, the minister said.
"During the period from April to November 2024, they have seized 4.2 lakh e-cigarettes," he added.