Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that e-cigarettes will be banned in India. Envisioned as a tool to combat tobacco addiction, electronic cigarettes and other vaping products have become a major problem and increase the risk of children adopting them, she said.
“It means the production, manufacturing, import/export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertising related to e-cigarettes are banned,” Sitharaman said at a press conference.
The ban will be imposed through an executive order and will include jail terms of up to three years for offenders.
Several Indian state governments in the country had already prohibited e-cigarettes before the central government’s announcement.
The first offence will be punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 100,000 rupees ($1,405), or both. For a subsequent offence, the punishment will be imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to 500,000 rupees ($7,028).
India has 106 million adult smokers, second only to China in the world.
New York, the second US state to ban flavoured e-cigarettes, followed a mysterious outbreak of severe pulmonary disease that has killed seven people and left hundreds unwell.
Donald Trump’s administration announced last week it would soon ban flavoured e-cigarette products to stem a rising tide of youth users.
