LATEST ALERTS
View allAlternative tobacco and nicotine products in India
Regulatory reports
Detailed legal reports outlining industry regulation, analysis of the laws, and pertinent organisations
Regulatory data
Our full regulatory tracking databases including tax, proposed bills, etc.
New trial available: Click on any alert below and access our regulatory alerts and get timely notifications sent to your inbox for 7 days.
Alerts
Our legal experts track the evolving regulation around the tobacco alternatives sector on a daily basis. These alerts are then compiled into our Monthly Round-up section.
22nd February 2023
India: Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said yesterday that the central government is working on amending several laws regulating tobacco, namely the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, the Food Safety and Standards Act, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, to cover new products, press reports.
16th February 2023
India: The national Ministry of Health has written to all state health ministries asking them to ensure compliance with the statutory ban on heated tobacco products, press reports. The letter expresses concern over the availability of heat-not-burn (HnB) products, e-cigarettes and e-hookahs online and in convenience stores near schools, giving young people easy access to prohibited devices.
30th January 2023
- India: The health department of the state of Tamil Nadu, a southern state of 76m citizens, will appeal the recent order of the Madras High Court, press reports. The order annulled the decision of the commissioner of food safety of the state that banned the manufacture, storage, transport, distribution and sale of gutkha, pan masala and other chewable food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients. Reportedly, the minister of health of the state is also contemplating provisions to ensure a ban on the manufacture and sale of tobacco products.
26th January 2023
- India: The Madras High Court has quashed the decision of the commissioner of food safety of Tamil Nadu banning the manufacture, storage, transport, distribution or sale of gutkha, pan masala and other chewable food products containing tobacco or nicotine as ingredients. The Court argued that the commissioner is only empowered to ban these products for a temporary period that may extend up to a maximum of one year, press reports. Therefore, the Court has held that the successive notifications issued in Tamil Nadu extending the ban on these products year after year are illegal. The scope of the decision is limited only to the state of Tamil Nadu, a southern state of 76m citizens.
1st December 2022
29th September 2022
India: The Delhi High Court has annulled a set of notifications issued by the Delhi Commissioner of Food Safety from 2015 to 2021 banning the manufacture, storage, distribution and sale of gutka, pan masala, flavoured tobacco, kharra and similar products in the state on the grounds that the commissioner had exceeded his powers. The court said it “agrees that tobacco and nicotine are injurious to health”, but added: “It has never been the intention of the Parliament to impose an absolute ban on manufacture, sale, distribution and storage of tobacco and/or tobacco products. The intention of the Parliament is to regulate the trade and commerce of tobacco and tobacco products.”
2nd September 2022
- India: The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution is cracking down on advertising agencies to ensure strict compliance with the guidelines for preventing misleading advertisement, especially surrogate advertising. The ministry noticed that these guidelines are not being complied with, and prohibited goods – such as chewing tobacco and gutkha – are still being advertised through surrogate goods and services. The ministry has also reiterated that the guidelines are equally applicable to the manufacturers of chewing tobacco.
25th July 2022
India: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has published new rules in the Gazette of India setting out new text and graphic health warnings for both combustible and smokeless tobacco products. The new warnings will become mandatory on 1st December.
27th May 2022
- India: On 23rd May, Tamil Nadu – a state in the south of India with a population of more than 70m – renewed the ban on the manufacture, storage, transport, distribution or sale of any food or chewable product that contains tobacco or nicotine.
7th April 2022
India: A group of MPs from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged the government yesterday to take steps to remove designated smoking areas from hotels, restaurants and airports, press reports. The use of heated tobacco is not prohibited by federal law, but officials sometimes treat its use as if it were smoking.
