AVI says will move court against Centre's advisory on e-cigarette ban

An organisation representing e-cigarette users in India has said it will move court against Centre's advisory to states asking them to not allow the manufacture, sale and advertisement of e-cigarettes and other Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS).

Association of Vapers India has accused the Centre of protecting the tobacco industry, and said India has joined countries like North Korea, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan and the UAE in banning e-cigarettes following the advisory.

The Union Health Ministry has issued an advisory asking all states and Union territories to not allow the manufacture, sale and advertisement of e-cigarettes and other ENDS, warning that their use pose a "great health risk" to public, especially children and pregnant women.

ENDS are devices that heat a solution to create an aerosol, which also frequently contains flavours, usually dissolved into propylene glycol and glycerin.

Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes, the most common prototype, are devices that do not burn or use tobacco leaves but instead vaporise a solution, which a user then inhales.

The main constituents of the solution, in addition to nicotine, are propylene glycol (with or without glycerol and flavouring agents).

AVI director Samrat Chowdhery told PTI, "We are certainly going to challenge this in court. We are currently deliberating on the issue."