Enforcement of Section 5 of COTPA in a District in South India: Hits and Misses

Abstract

The Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) has been enacted in the year 2003 and came into force in the following year. Section 5 of COTPA prohibits advertisement of cigarette and other tobacco products. Despite being in force for more than 15 years COTPA has not been enforced to its fullest extent. Objectives: The study’s goal was to assess the current level of compliance to Section 5 of COTPA in Kolar. Methodology: A sample size of 423 Points of Sale (PoS) shops was calculated based on 95% confidence level, by using Open Epi software 3.01, a 50% anticipated compliance rate and a 5% error margin with a design effect of 1.1. Data analysis was done using SPSS Version22. Results: Among the 423 PoS surveyed very few were found displaying advertisements in the form of boards (6 Nos,1.4%), Posters (6 Nos,1.4%), banners (2 Nos,0.5%), or stickers (2 Nos,0.5%). In fact, no shop was found to have displayed any dangle, LCD, product show case, illuminated boards, black lit or offering promotional gifts and inserts. Conclusion: The study revealed a fair amount of compliance to Section 5 of COTPA in Kolar. In fact the very absence of any shop displaying dangles, LCDs, illuminated or black lit advertisement boards or offering promotional gifts and inserts were encouraging findings.