Bare Act
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003
The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act of 2003 regulates the trade, advertisement, production, and consumption of tobacco throughout India. It applies directly to manufacturers, advertisers, sellers, and individual consumers. The law bans smoking in public places, prohibits tobacco advertising, forbids sales to minors under eighteen years of age or near educational institutions, and mandates prominent health warnings on all packaging. This regulation matters because it protects public health, shields bystanders from harmful secondhand smoke, and actively discourages tobacco use, especially among vulnerable youth, by strictly restricting marketing and clearly highlighting the deadly health risks associated with tobacco consumption.
- 1. Short title, extent and commencement.
- 2. Declaration as to expediency of control by the Union
- 3. Definitions
- 4. Prohibition of smoking in a public place.
- 5. Prohibition of advertisement of cigarettes and other tobacco products
- 6. Prohibition on sale of cigarette or other tobacco products to person below the age of eighteen years and in particular area
- 7. Restrictions on trade and commerce in and production, supply and distribution of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
- 8. Manner in which specified warning shall be made
- 9. Language in which the specified warning shall expressed.
- 10. Size of letters and figures.
- 11. Testing laboratory for nicotine and tar contents.
- 12. Power of entry and search
- 13. Power to seize
- 14. Confiscation of package
- 15. Power to give option to pay costs in lieu of confiscation
- 16. Confiscation not to interfere with other punishments
- 17. Adjudication
- 18. Giving opportunity to the owner of seized packages.
- 19. Appeal
- 20. Punishment for failure to give specified warning and nicotine and tar contents
- 21. Punishment for smoking in certain places
- 22. Punishment for advertisement of cigarettes and tobacco products
- 23. Forfeiture of advertisement and advertisement material
- 24. Punishment for smoking in certain places
- 25. Prevention, detention and place of trial of offences under section 4 and 6
- 26. Offences by companies
- 27. Offences to be bailable.
- 28. Composition of offences
- 29. Protection of action taken in good faith
- 30. Power to add any tobacco products in the Schedule
- 31. Power of Central Government to make rules
- 32. Act not to apply to cigarettes and other tobacco products which are exported.
- 33. Repeal and savings
PDF: pending for this language.