The city police, in a drive against smoking in public, booked a total of 871 cases and collected a penalty of ₹87,100 on January 31 and February 1.
In a statement issued on Friday, the police said the offenders were booked under different provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003, also known as COTPA.
COTPA not only prohibits smoking in public, but also the sale of tobacco products within 100 metres of educational institutions, sale of such products to those below 18 years and the advertisement of tobacco products.
In 2016, the police had booked 16, 334 cases under COPTA and collected a penalty of ₹16.38 lakh. Prior to this, the penalties collected were ₹20.04 lakh for 19,511 cases in 2015 and ₹11.70 lakh for 9,927 cases in 2014.
