Fine on smoking: Govt earns Rs 10 lakh

Tobacco inspectors with the health department have collected over Rs 10 lakh from people caught smoking in public places.

The ban was enforced on October 2, last year, and the health department claims to have managed to create a ‘fear’ of being caught smoking in public places.

“On-the-spot fines seem to be working well. We want to create awareness and also ensure people follow the law,” said Kiran Walia, health minister (Delhi).

The anti-smoking law specifies that anything between Rs. 1 and Rs. 200 can be charged for the offence, at the discretion of the fining authority.

Officials in the Capital have raided 15,033 public places and fined 10,456 persons and 906 public vehicles.

The government has also formed eight raiding squads to stop smoking in public places in the Capital.

The health department has launched a project in collaboration with Bloomberg initiative — a group of international organisations like WHO, International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases and John Hopkins School of Public Health USA — aiming at a smoke-free Delhi by 2009.