Karnataka hikes fine for public tobacco use to Rs 1,000; buyers must be 21+

Bengaluru: The maximum fine for violating the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) in Karnataka has been increased to Rs 1,000 from Rs 200.

A government order in this regard came on Friday.

The President gave her assent to the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, 2024, on May 23.

It was published in the official Karnataka Gazette Extraordinary on May 30, and has since come into force.

In September 2023, the state government decided to amend the law for a complete ban on hookah and shisha bars. It also proposed to increase the legal age for purchase of tobacco products.

Now, the act's amendments include changes to Section 4, where the prohibition of use of tobacco products in public places means both smoking and spitting of tobacco. Section 4A has been included to prohibit the opening and running of a hookah bar, stating, "in any place including the eating house or pub or bar or restaurant by whatever name it is called".

Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat governments also have state amendments detailing the same.

Section 6 of the Principal Act has been amended to raise the age limit of a person who can purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. It is detailed as follows:

"Prohibition on sale of cigarettes or other tobacco products to a person below the age of twenty one years and in a particular area. No person shall sell, offer for sale, or permit the sale of cigarettes or any other tobacco products,

(a) to any person who is under the age of twenty one years;

(b) in an area within a radius of one hundred meters of any educational

institution; or

(c) loose or in single sticks."

The fines detailed under Section 21, 24 and 28 of the Act, for smoking in a public place and for sale of tobacco to people aged 21 and below, have been increased to Rs 1,000.

The amendment also inserts a new section 21A, which details the punishment for running a hookah bar, which is imprisonment for a term not less than one year but extendable to three years and with a fine not less than Rs 50,000, extendable to Rs 1 lakh.