Addicts can’t kick the butt, ciggie cost triples

After alcohol, it’s cigarettes, gutkha and paan masala that’s selling at a premium in the time of the coronavirus. If alcohol will cost you 10 times the MRP, the going rate for cigarettes is three times the normal price.

With the sale of cigarettes and all tobacco products banned since March 21, their supply has plummeted. But the handful of shopkeepers that are selling them clandestinely are making hay as the demand remains strong.

In the time of the lockdown, it’s common to see smokers asking for cigarettes in grocery stores and paan beeda shops. But the shopkeepers aren’t selling them to everyone. You have to be a regular, familiar customer, and place the order over the phone. The product will be delivered home.

These are not the only constraints, however. Most of the time, it’s a Hobson’s choice for customers. You may not get your favourite brand and will have to take what is available. And pay triple the price for high-priced cigarettes and double for low-priced ones.

Gold Flake King, one of the fast-selling brands, is selling for Rs 350 per pack, as against the MRP of Rs 170. Gold Flake Small, Wills Navy Cut and some other popular brands have gone out of stock. Player’s, which costs Rs 70 per pack, is selling for anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 150. In rural areas — where there are few buyers for Gold Flake King — Gold Flake Small and Player’s are selling like hotcakes as they are very much in stock.

Siddu is one of the few paan beeda shopkeepers who have managed to operate clandestinely in South Bengaluru. And he’s now selling only brand: Player’s. “I no longer have the stock of Classic cigarettes: Mild, Regular or Ultra Mild. I sold Gold Flake King for Rs 280. Customers are willing to pay more but there’s no stock. Only Player’s is available,” he told DH.

Jagadish, a resident, said he bought three packets of Gold Flake King for Rs 350 each on Saturday on the outskirts of the city.

“I had to go to rural areas as the shopkeepers in the city have no stock,” he said and feared that the prices may further go up if the lockdown is not relaxed.

Chewing tobacco is witnessing similar demand. A senior officer in the Central Crime Branch (CCB) said they had been raiding shops selling cigarettes and other tobacco products and asked the public to provide information so that many more shops could be raided.

Cigarette MRP Current price

Gold Flake King Rs 170 Rs 350

Classic Mild Rs 170 Rs 350

Gold Flake Small Rs 110 Rs 200

Flake Rs 90 Rs 170

Player’s Rs 70 Rs 150 to Rs 200

Chewing tobacco

Hans Rs 12 Rs 25

Madhu Rs 12 Rs 25

Badshah Rs 12 Rs 25

Chaini Khaini Rs 15 Rs 30