Background
Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 (“COTPA, 2003”) was enacted by Parliament and is administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to regulate the advertisement of, and trade, commerce, production, supply and distribution in, cigarettes and other tobacco products, and to protect the public from the health hazards associated with tobacco use. Among its central obligations, Section 4 of the Act prohibits smoking in public places, and empowers the Central Government to prescribe the manner in which this prohibition is to be implemented and enforced.
To operationalise Section 4, the Central Government notified the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Rules, 2004, followed by the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, which lay down detailed requirements for the display of no-smoking signage, the physical segregation of smoking and non-smoking areas in hotels, restaurants and airports, and the responsibilities cast on owners, proprietors, managers and persons in charge of public places to prevent smoking within their premises. These rules were subsequently refined by the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places (Amendment) Rules, 2017, which tightened the specifications for designated smoking areas in larger hotels, restaurants and airports.
Applicability
COTPA, 2003 and the rules framed thereunder apply to every public place in India, and place compliance obligations on the owner, proprietor, manager, supervisor or person otherwise in charge of the affairs of such a place, with additional, more detailed obligations — relating to segregated smoking areas, signage and designated points of contact — applying specifically to hotels with 30 or more rooms, restaurants with a seating capacity of 30 or more, and airports; every individual visiting or present at a public place is, in turn, bound by the underlying prohibition on smoking outside any permitted designated area.
Compliance Requirement Under the act in Accordance with the Rules & Regulations:
Smoking is prohibited in all public places. Hotels with 30 or more rooms, restaurants with a seating capacity of 30 or more, and airports are, however, permitted to provide a separate smoking area or space. The owner, proprietor, manager, supervisor, or person in charge of the affairs of a public place is responsible for ensuring that no person smokes within the public place under his jurisdiction.
Hotels with 30 or more rooms, restaurants with a seating capacity of more than 30, and airports must ensure that smoking and non-smoking areas are physically segregated, that access to non-smoking areas does not require passage through a smoking area, and that appropriate “Smoking Area” and “Non-Smoking Area” boards are displayed. A smoking area must be a separately ventilated room, physically separated by full-height walls, fitted with an automatically closing door, a prescribed airflow system and negative air pressure, and must not be located at an entrance or exit; it must be marked “Smoking Area” in English and one applicable Indian language, and no service is permitted within it. The owner, proprietor, manager, supervisor, or person in charge of the affairs of the hotel, restaurant or airport must display a board of at least 60×30 cm, with a white background and a black-coloured message in English and one applicable Indian language, stating that (i) tobacco smoking is harmful to the health of the smoker and of non-smokers, and (ii) entry of any person below the age of eighteen years is prohibited. Hotels with 30 or more rooms may instead designate smoking rooms in a separate section, floor or wing, clearly marked in English and one applicable Indian language, with smoke ventilated outside without infiltrating non-smoking areas.
A “No Smoking Area — Smoking Here is an Offence” board must be displayed prominently at every entrance and at conspicuous locations inside a public place, including on each floor, at staircases and at lift entrances, where applicable. The board must be at least 60 cm by 30 cm, with a white background, and must contain a circle of at least 15 cm outer diameter with a red perimeter at least 3 cm wide, depicting a cigarette or beedi with black smoke crossed by a red band whose width equals that of the red perimeter, together with the warning “No Smoking Area — Smoking Here is an Offence” in English or one applicable Indian language.
No ashtrays, matches, lighters or other items designed to facilitate smoking may be provided within a public place. For this purpose, the definition of “public place” under Section 3(1) of the Act, as elaborated by Rule 2(d) of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, extends to work places, shopping malls and cinema halls as well.
As part of the overall prohibition on smoking in a public place under Rule 3(2) and Rule 3(3) of the Prohibition of Smoking in Public Places Rules, 2008, the owner, proprietor, manager, supervisor, or person in charge of the affairs of the public place is required to identify and display the designated point of contact responsible for addressing violations of the no-smoking requirement within the premises.
Penalty & Consequences
The following penalty provisions apply across the compliance obligations covered in this blog. These have been consolidated and de-duplicated for ease of reference:
Section 21 of COTPA, 2003 — Penalty for Smoking in a Prohibited Public Place
Any person who smokes in any public place in contravention of the prohibition under Section 4 of COTPA, 2003 is punishable with a fine of up to ₹200.
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