15 websites are reportedly receiving notices from the health ministry for selling electronic cigarettes and monitoring social media advertisements

The sale of e-cigarettes is prohibited under the 2019 Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act

According to official sources, the Union Health Ministry has sent notices to 15 websites selling e-cigarettes, which are illegal in India, telling them to stop advertising and selling the products.

They added that the ministry is closely watching the promotion and sale of e-cigarettes on social media and may soon issue notices to them. They said six more websites are on their radar.

Four of the 15 websites that were given the “takedown notice” have stopped operating, while the other nine have not yet replied, an official source told PTI.

The health ministry will write to the ministry of electronics and information technology requesting that these websites be taken down if they don’t comply with the law and respond. In accordance with this, legal action will also be taken against these websites, the source said.

In 2019, the Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage, and Advertisement of Electronic Cigarettes Act went into effect.

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In its notification to the websites, the health ministry stated, “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.” According to the government notification dated November 15, 2021, “In light of the foregoing, and pursuant to section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act), and in accordance with the government notification, the undersigned is hereby authorised to direct you to disable access to and/or remove any information identified in the enclosed document without vitiating the evidence in any way,” it said.

Failure to comply with the directive “may amount to aiding/abetting the transmission of such unlawful information or the conduct of such unlawful activity, as the case may be,” according to the notice, and “you may be prosecuted for hosting such information, data, or communication links.”

Furthermore, failure to take necessary action may result in penalties under the IT Act and/or the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, according to the notice.

The online entities were given 36 hours to respond after receiving the notice.

“Four of the fifteen online entities have responded and have ceased operations.” “We are still waiting for the remaining parties to respond, failing which further action will be taken,” said an official source.

The ministry expressed concern that these products were still available online and from local vendors in a letter it sent to all states and Union Territories in February to ensure effective compliance with the ban on e-cigarettes.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stated in a letter to chief secretaries that instances of devices like e-cigarettes being sold at convenience or stationery stores and close to educational institutions have also been reported, making these products readily available to kids.

In order to enforce the Act more strictly, the health ministry published a public notice in May ordering all producers, manufacturers, importers, exporters, distributors, advertisers, and transporters, such as couriers, social media websites, and online shopping websites, to directly or indirectly manufacture, procure, or sell e-cigarettes.