Right to Information, 2018–2019

What government departments actually told us — on the record

The Right to Information Act, 2005 lets any Indian citizen formally request records from a public authority; the authority's Public Information Officer (CPIO) is legally required to respond. Concerned about the government's hard line on e-cigarettes, AVI and individual vapers filed RTI requests with the research bodies, health ministry and customs authorities most likely to have studied the issue — asking a simple question: what evidence was this policy actually based on?

The replies below, grouped by department, show a consistent pattern: no research had been conducted, no budget existed for it, and — from India's own drug regulators and customs authorities — e-cigarettes were, at the time, not covered by the law later cited to restrict them. Each card shows what was asked, what was said, and a link to the original reply.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

India's apex medical research body

Asked

Has ICMR conducted or funded any research into electronic cigarettes / ENDS, and if so, where is it published?
Is ICMR currently working on, or has it sanctioned, any research into the benefits or harms of vaping?
How much has ICMR spent on smoking-cessation-related research, and who is working on it?

Replied

No research conducted into electronic cigarettes or ENDS.
No study currently sanctioned or funded on the subject.
Nil spend, no researchers assigned — "None" on every count.

View the original reply →

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare — Tobacco Control Division

The ministry that went on to advise a nationwide ENDS ban in Aug 2018

Asked

Has the Division conducted or funded any research into e-cigarettes / ENDS?
What is the Division's budget for smoking-cessation activities?
Has any state informed the Division of a ban or restriction on ENDS, and under what law would ENDS be prohibited?

Replied

"The Division has not conducted any such studies/survey."
Cessation budget answered only for the general National Tobacco Quit-line service (₹49.6 lakh in 2014-15, rising to ₹1.63 crore by 2019-20) — no ENDS-specific allocation.
On the legal basis for a ban: pointed only to a 2014 internal committee process still "under consideration," and to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 generally — not to any ENDS-specific prohibition then in force.

View the original reply (opens in Google Drive) →

Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO)

India's central drug regulator

Asked

Is an e-cigarette, or any part of one, covered under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and its Rules?
Are electronic cigarettes banned for import, including into Maharashtra specifically, or for personal use?

Replied

"E-cigarettes are not regulated under the provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 there under" — stated identically across all three questions.

View the original reply →

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)

India's national drug licensing authority, under the Directorate General of Health Services

Asked

Are e-cigarettes for smoking covered under the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and its Rules?

Replied

"E-Cigarettes for smoking are not covered under the provisions of Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945 there under."

View the original reply →

JIPMER, Department of Preventive & Social Medicine, Pondicherry

A central government medical institute and research hospital

Asked

Has the department researched electronic cigarettes / ENDS, its cessation potential, or its use versus traditional cigarettes?

Replied

"Not worked in E-Cigarettes/ENDS aspects" — on every research, funding and personnel question asked.

View the original reply →

National Institute of Cancer Prevention & Research (NICPR)

ICMR's dedicated cancer-prevention research institute

Asked

Has NICPR researched electronic cigarettes / ENDS, and what has it spent on smoking-cessation research?

Replied

No research conducted; nil spend; no researchers or projects assigned to the subject.

View the original reply (opens in Google Drive) →

Principal Commissioner of Customs (ACC-Import), New Customs House, New Delhi

India's primary air-cargo customs import authority

Asked

Are non-tobacco, non-nicotine vaping hardware, e-liquids, and nicotine liquids of various strengths banned or restricted from import?
Has any circular been issued restricting import of e-cigarette or vaping hardware?

Replied

Import of non-tobacco, non-nicotine e-cigarette devices "alone are not banned or restricted."
Nicotine e-liquids at every strength tested (0.3mg/ml through 18mg/ml) were "not banned and not on the restricted import list."
No circular banning import of e-cigarette or vaping accessories had been issued — import was governed only by the general EXIM policy, DGFT circulars and Ministry of Health advisories then in force.

View the original reply →

Principal Commissioner of Customs (Airport & Admin), Kolkata

India's Eastern-region air-cargo customs authority

Asked

Are non-tobacco, non-nicotine vaping hardware, e-liquids and nicotine liquids restricted from import?
Has any state asked Customs to stop e-cigarette or vaping imports?
Does Customs have authority to independently restrict import of a product not on the official restricted list?

Replied

Confirmed — in near-identical language to the Delhi office — that none of these products featured on the restricted import list at the time.
"This office has not received any information to stop imports of electronics cigarettes and vaping devices from any state."
Import of items outside the restricted list "is allowed subject to compliance with customs act and rules" — Customs could not independently ban a category the government had not restricted.

View the original reply (opens in Google Drive) →

Several questions above were asked in near-identical, redundant phrasing across the original set of RTI applications (e.g. "electronic cigarettes" vs. "electronic vaping devices" vs. "ENDS") — they're consolidated here to one entry per underlying question. Five of the eleven original reply documents could not be re-hosted on this site directly and link out to Google Drive instead; everything else is archived locally so it won't disappear if that link ever does.