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.