Smoking ban gets stricter in bars, restaurants in state

The government has imposed a complete ban on smoking in bars and restaurants across the state.

To discourage smoking in smoking areas in these places, there is a prohibition on serving not just food and beverages, but also keeping chairs, tables, ashtrays and matchboxes there.

Acting on the findings by Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), which says that the health of the general public is affected by passive smoking, the government issued a circular on November 17, enforcing a strict ban on smoking in public places.

For implementing the provisions of the Karnataka Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Health of Non-Smokers Act, 2001, the circular says smoking is banned in places where there is density of population, like hotels, bars, restaurants, pubs and
clubs.

As per the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, there is a rule that in any hotel, restaurant, pub, club having more than 30 seats, a smoking area has to be created.

The smoking areas will have to follow certain conditions like not allowing minors in the areas, no serving food or beverages, to discourage smoking in the smoking area.

The rule also prevents the owners from having chairs or tables and even keeping ashtrays and matchboxes. The hotel owners will have to get necessary permits from the local bodies for creating a designated smoking area.

The circular says hotel owners will have to strictly follow the provisions of COTPA and if there is any violation, there are chances that the licence of the owner may be
cancelled.

The new circular was part of the joint consultation meeting ‘Advancing Urban Health Policies, Key Policies for Non-communicable Diseases Prevention,’ organised by the government, in association with the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Association of Healthcare Providers (India) and Association of National Board Accredited Institutions.

The move will help in protecting thousands of staff and non-smoking customers, especially women and children, from the harmful effects of second-hand
smoking.