India to Ban E-Cigarettes, with Severe Penalties for Production and Imports

Recent reports show that India is considering introducing a ban on e-cigarettes, citing concerns that they could become “fashionable.” However, the ban is also seen by some as a plan designed to prevent e-cigarette companies from entering the market.

Official Indian documents show that the Ministry of Health has proposed banning the production and import of e-cigarettes. These proposals have raised concerns in India that people caught using e-cigarettes could face punitive fines or even imprisonment. The ban and fines would likely apply mainly to the production, sale, import, and advertising of e-cigarettes, but it remains unclear whether individual tobacco retailers would also be affected.
 
India’s Ministry of Health has recommended that the government issue an executive order banning the import and production of e-cigarettes in the public interest, saying it is necessary to ensure that e-cigarettes do not become a “fad” among children and young people.

In an internal report, the Indian Ministry of Health stated that e-cigarettes and similar technologies encourage tobacco use or have a negative impact on public health, making them harmful to both active and passive users. The federal cabinet is expected to consider the internal report.

Two months ago, Indian health officials said that under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, e-cigarettes would be classified in India as a “poisonous substance” and should therefore be banned under the relevant regulations. Citing their harmful effects, the Ministry of Health proposed this nationwide ban, but several states—including Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Mizoram, Karnataka, and Jammu and Kashmir—had already prohibited e-cigarettes as an “unapproved poisonous substance.”
 
Earlier this month, Indian officials proposed that repeated violations of the new regulations could carry a prison sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to 500,000 rupees (about RMB 50,000). First-time offenders would face up to one year in prison and a fine of 100,000 rupees. It is still unclear whether the draft executive order will be revised or when it might be approved.

However, this is not the first time India has proposed a nationwide ban on e-cigarettes. In March 2019, the Delhi High Court suspended the government’s efforts to ban them. India’s Ministry of Commerce said there was no legal basis for banning their import. The government may decide to classify them as unapproved drugs to provide a legal basis for the ban.

India has about 120 million adult smokers, second only to its giant neighboring country, making it a highly profitable market for U.S. e-cigarette companies such as Juul and Philip Morris. More than 1 million people in the country die each year from tobacco-related diseases. In a country where smoking is often seen as a social activity, banning e-cigarettes could very well backfire.
 
In India, smokers are mainly men, who can often be seen taking breaks to smoke bidis and chew betel nut. Many people believe that e-cigarettes not only encourage people to move away from tobacco, but also help break some smoking habits.
 
Carrie Wade, a senior fellow at an Indian research institute and director of harm reduction policy, said that when the ban was first proposed, the findings of India’s Ministry of Health were inconsistent with most other studies. She wrote in her article that India’s leadership should not ignore the fact that properly regulated e-cigarettes can encourage smokers to move away from combustible cigarettes.

Other supporters of e-cigarettes say that they are far less harmful than conventional cigarettes because users do not inhale the same dangerous substances.