Most brands of cigarettes have turned costlier here in the wake of cigarette manufacturers stopping their production over the graphic health warning issue. Most retail sellers of cigarettes are charging Rs. 2 -4 more than the normal rate across brands, while dealers of ITC, said they had not received supplies since Thursday.
The cigarette manufacturers have closed their factories in protest against the Health Ministry’s order to increase the size of the pictorial warning to cover 85 per cent of the packaging space. While Harsha, owner of Devu Agency that deals with ITC cigarettes, said he has run out of stock, Nithin of Ganesh Associates, also a dealer of ITC, said he had not received his shipment since Thursday. Estimating that 1 to 1.5 million cigarettes are sold every day in Mysuru city, Mr. Nithin said the government is losing Rs. 22 to Rs. 25 lakh in VAT every day on account of the closure of the cigarette companies. Between the three dealers of ITC here, more than Rs 30 million worth of cigarettes, is sold every month.
Referring to the increase in price, Mr. Harsha said he would write to the Department of Legal Metrology to initiate action against such sellers.
