Chandigarh, Nov. 12 -- Six shopkeepers were fined a total of Rs.5,500 during an enforcement drive conducted in Sectors 35, 36, 44 and 45 for violating provisions of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, and the Excise Act.

The joint team, comprising officials from the health, police, excise and taxation, legal metrology, and food safety and drug control departments, seized illegal and imported cigarettes for lacking the mandatory 85% pictorial health warning. Retailers and vendors also voluntarily destroyed 220 packets of loose cigarettes.

During the inspections, six vendors were found selling or possessing loose cigarettes and failing to display the mandatory signage under Section 6(a) of COTPA, 2003. Some were a...