Health Ministry notice to 15 websites for selling e-cigarettes; social media sites under scanner

Health Ministry sends notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, which are banned in India, to stop advertisement & sale. 6 more websites on radar. 4 of 15 have responded & shut down operations. Health Ministry warns of legal action & penalties if directive not complied with.

The Union Health Ministry has sent notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, which are banned in India, directing them to stop advertisement and sale of the products, official sources said.

Six more websites are on the radar, they said, adding the Ministry is also closely monitoring the advertisement and sale of e-cigarettes on social media and might issue notices to them soon.

Of the 15 websites which have been issued the "takedown notice", four have stopped operations while the rest have not responded yet, an official source told PTI.

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"If they don't respond and comply with the law, the Health Ministry will write to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for taking down these websites. Legal action will also be taken against these websites accordingly," the source said.

The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act came into force in 2019.

The Health Ministry's notice to the websites said, "We have identified that information relating to online advertisement and sale of illegal e-cigarettes, which is unlawful under Section 4 of the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act is being hosted, displayed, published, transmitted and shared on your platform."