Tobacco Vendor Licensing will fetch Rs 14000 crore to Rajasthan government

Jaipur, (January 28,2024) – The Rajasthan government through Tobacco Vendor Licensing can get huge revenue in the form of tax. Shri Rajan Choudhary, convenor, Tambaku Mukt Rajasthan Abhiyan said that the state government at present is getting Rs 400-500 crore per annum as tax from the tobacco products, which after issuing licenses to the tobacco vendors will increase to Rs 14,000 crore per annum.

Shri Choudhary was addressing a State-level Media Workshop on ‘Need for Innovations in Tobacco Control’ at a city hotel on Sunday. It was organised by the Rajasthan Tobacco Free Alliance (RajTOFA) and SRKPS in association with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union).

He said there should be a licensing system for tobacco vendors like the liquor vendors. The revenue to the state government from liquor is Rs 17,000 crore per annum. The state government is getting only Rs 400-500 crore per annum from tobacco products, as maximum sales of tobacco products are done in black (without bills). The sales of tobacco products in Rajasthan are around Rs 50,000 crore per annum and the government can get Rs 14,000 crore with 28% GST.

Shri Choudhary said that there the Rajasthan Municipality Act, 2009 has laws and rules for vendor licensing. Vendor licensing has started in Sikar, while it is under process in Nagaur, Jhunjhunu and Alwar. The gazette notification has already been issued in Jaipur and soon vendor licensing will start in Heritage and Greater Municipal Corporations in Jaipur.

The benefits of tobacco vendor licensing include the local bodies will get revenue, mapping of tobacco vendors in the limits of municipal bodies, less tobacco waste will be generated due to limited tobacco shops, will prevent the sale of tobacco products to minors and there will be effective implementation of Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), he added.

He said that the Paan Sellers Association of Hadauti and Jaipur want the government should start tobacco vendor licensing.

Rajasthan Cancer Foundation, president, Dr Rakesh Gupta highlighted on Tobacco Free Generation. He said that with tobacco vendor licensing, children born on January 1, 2011, can be made tobacco-free generation by 2029. Currently, tobacco is easily available to minors. Daily 300 minors in Rajasthan start using tobacco, which is due to the easy availability of tobacco. With vendor licensing, there will be limited shops, children will not have easy access and vendors will also avoid selling tobacco to minors.

RajTOFA, president Dr Ramesh Gandhi spoke on surrogate advertisements of tobacco products. He said today celebrities are promoting these tobacco products in the form of mouth fresheners, paan masala etc and their fans get into the habit of using tobacco. He requested the media to do strong anti-tobacco stories frequently as it can have an effective impact on curbing tobacco use.

In the beginning, SRKPS senior programme manager, Shri Bhupesh Dixit welcomed the guests and informed the media persons about the objective of the workshop. SRKPS, programme officer Rahul Kumar gave vote of thanks. More than 50 people from print, electronic and social media attended the workshop.