Shillong, November 22:The Deputy Commissioner, East Khasi Hills District, Shillong has prohibited the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to any person who is under eighteen years of age, at the market place and in an area within a radius of one hundred yards of any educational institution and vendors and shopkeepers where tobacco products are sold, shall display a notice containing the warning: “Sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to a person under the age of eighteen years is strictly prohibited and is a punishable offence”.
The order has been issued in view of the notice received that vendors and stall/shopkeepers are selling cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors at market places and within the proximity of educational institutions openly without any hindrances thereby violating section 6 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), which prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors, i.e. below the age of 18 years.Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 6 shall be guilty of an offence under this Act and shall be punishable with the imposition of fines and other prescribed penalties.
