title: How compliant are tobacco vendors to india's tobacco control legislation on Ban of advertisments at point of sale? A three jurisdictions review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Section 5 of India's tobacco control legislation "Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003"comprehensively prohibits all kinds of tobacco advertisement, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS), but permits advertisments at the point-of-sale (POS) under certain conditions. This provision has been exploited by the tobacco companies to promote their products.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure compliance with the provisions of Section 5 of Indian tobacco control legislation (COTPA, 2003) at point of sale.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey using an observation checklist was conducted in 1860 POS across three jurisdictions (Chennai city, District Vadodara and District Mohali) in India.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common mode of advertisement of tobacco products was product showcasing (51.1%), followed by dangles (49.6%), stickers (33.8%) and boards (27.1%). More than one fourth of POS were found violating legal provisions for displaying advertisement boards in one or other forms (oversized, extended to full body lenth of POS, displayed brandname/ packshot and promotional messages). Advertisement boards (16.3%) without health warnings were also found and wherever found, more than 90% health warning were not as per the specification in respect to size, font and background color.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Point of sale advertising is aggressively used by the tobacco industry to promote their products. There is an urgent need of effective implementation of a comprehensive ban on tobacco product advertisement, promotion and sponsorship at point of sale.
authors.affiliation: Health Management, PGIMER School of Public Health, Chandigarh, India E-mail : sonugoel007@yahoo.co.in.
authors.forename: Sonu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goel
authors.forename: Ravinder
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Pranay
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lal
authors.forename: Jp
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.forename: Rana J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Arul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rathinam
authors.forename: Anant
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Christian
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D033161:Government Regulation; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*