'Ban celeb promos, shut down surrogate ads': Rajya Sabha turns heat on tobacco, liquor marketing

New Delhi: Several members of the Rajya Sabha on Thursday asked the government to immediately stop "misleading" advertisements to promote tobacco, liquor and other products, while citing an alarming number of deaths due to cancer and other diseases associated with the consumption of such intoxicants.

They were speaking on the Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced in the Upper House earlier during the day. The bill proposes to levy a higher excise duty on tobacco and related products once the GST compensation cess ends.

BJP's Sanjay Seth said it has been seen that people from different walks of life -- be it a man, woman or children -- have started using tobacco and related products and because of which cancer, heart and lung diseases are on the rise.

According to a report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 1.35 million people are dying in our country due to these diseases, he said.

"If you look at its advertisements, be it gutkha or liquor, they do advertising in the name of soda or water bottles. As advertisements on such (tobacco, liquor) harmful products are banned by the government. They advertise in such a way that it gets into the minds of the people. Our government should stop such advertisements immediately," said Seth, the BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh.

He also said that a certain percentage of revenue generated from this bill should be earmarked for cancer research and awareness campaigns.

Echoing his views, BSP's Ramji said there was a need to immediately stop all kinds of misleading advertisements to clandestinely promote 'gutkha' in the name of 'pan masala'.

He also demanded that more awareness campaigns be shown on televisions, including versions of people affected by cancer, to raise awareness.

Ramji said there has to be a total ban on the promotion of tobacco or other such harmful products by film actors or actresses.

He proposed a licence for sellers of gutkha and cigarettes, akin to the similar mandatory requirement for liquor sellers, to discourage sales.

BJP's Govindbhai Laljibhai Dholakia, who started to speak on the matter with a Sanskrit verse, mentioned his "addiction-free" export firm.

"Our company is Shri Ramakrishna Export. It has more than 7,000 employees. Today, our company is tobacco-free. There is nobody who suffers from addiction. I want India to become tobacco-free like this company," he said, adding that tobacco is the biggest cause of death among the country's youths.

AIADMK's M Thambidurai extended his support to the bill, provided the shares of the state governments get their due share.

"This bill is a timely and necessary reform aimed at safeguarding public health, maintaining revenue stability and ensuring that harmful products like tobacco do not become cheaper as the GST compensation cess is gradually phased out. Sir, it is equally important to emphasise that this reform does not harm states' revenues," he said.

Congress's Jebi Mather Hisham said domestic estimates of deaths from tobacco use in India annually are over one million.

"That is 2,500 people die every day across India from tobacco use. The burden of cancers directly attributable to tobacco was projected to increase from 1.69 lakh in 2015 to around 2.36 lakh by 2025 -- an increase of nearly 40 per cent," she said.

Now, the government is bringing this bill with a publicly announced objective of this being a sin tax to bring tobacco use under control by higher prices, Hisham said.

"While the objective itself is laudatory, the hidden objective of this government is to raise resources by use of the so-called sin tax to cover the revenue shortfalls from the disastrous GST implementation," she said.

BJP's Rajya Sabha member from Maharashtra and former Union Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said the bill has only one purpose, that is to stabilise tobacco taxation, to strengthen the health policy of the central government to ensure reduction of cancer patients, heart and lung diseases.

He supported the bill, saying the legislation is in the national and public interest.

The Central Excise (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed by a voice vote in the Lower House on Wednesday.

The bill, once enacted, will give the government the fiscal space to increase the rate of central excise duty on tobacco and related products after the GST compensation cess, which is currently levied on all tobacco products like cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars, hookah, zarda, and scented tobacco, ceases to exist.

Currently, a 28 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) plus cess at a varied rate is levied on tobacco and related products.

The bill proposes to levy an excise duty of 60-70 per cent on unmanufactured tobacco. Excise on cigars and cheroots is proposed at 25 per cent or Rs 5,000 per 1,000 sticks, whichever is higher. Cigarettes, depending on length and filter, are proposed to be taxed in the range of Rs 2,700-Rs 11,000 per 1,000 sticks, while chewing tobacco is taxed at Rs 100 per kg.