Sanjukta Mitra

Kolkata, October 3

THE DRIVE against the menace of contraband cigarettes seems to be gathering momentum at last. The Kolkata zonal office of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has just nabbed yet another consignment of illegal Bangladeshi cigarettes from a transport godown. And, with this, the total value of seizure in the zone till September 2001-2002, amounts to Rs 31 lakh. This is a steep increase from Rs 0.85 lakh cigarettes confiscated in 2000-2001.

Speaking about the latest haul, H.V. Chauhan, additional director general, DRI (Kolkata) told ET: "The seized consignment was on its way to Ahmedabad with the smuggled brands Aziz Gold and Gold Leaf, both of Bangladeshi origin. Altogether 1.8 lakh packets, valued at Rs 9 lakh, have been seized."

Mr Chauhan said all the consignments seized this year have been confined to Kolkata and Guwahati, most brands being either from Bangladesh or Myanmar. Last year, however, the DRI had hauled some Chinese and US brands from the Kolkata airport. In 1999-2000, Rs 13.58 lakh worth cigarettes were confiscated at the Guwahati railway station.

"We have seized the contraband cigarettes while these were in transit in the bordering states," Mr Chauhan said. DRI Kolkata has all the seven north eastern states, apart from West Bengal and Orissa, under its jurisdiction.

Contraband cigarettes continue to be a deplorable menace the world over, with as much as 5 per cent of global consumption falling under this category. The situation in India is worse. It is estimated that the Union government is losing nearly Rs 2000 crore of revenue every year due to illegal cigarette traffic.

Market research studies indicate that out of a total of 97 billion sticks consumed in the country annually, eight to nine per cent falls under this category.

The menace is more pronounced in premium category cigarettes, where as much as 50 per cent in volumes and 60 per cent in value belong to the contraband variety, these studies claim.

Leading tobacco companies like ITC have made several representations to the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) and Union ministries of commerce and finance over the past several years.

"In the bid to stop contraband cigarettes from being openly sold in the streets, ITC has recommended that the duty free baggage allowance of 1 carton of cigarettes per passenger should be discontinued. This necessitates some changes under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Act", said Mr SH Venkatramani, the official spokesman of the company. "Such bans are already effective in the European Union, in Australia, or for that matter even in Bangladesh", he said.

Among the other recommendations, ITC has also urged a ban on the sale of cigarettes at the duty free shops in international airports, apart from moderation of the excise duties imposed on cigarettes. These measures could go a long way in creating economic disincentives to smuggling, Mr Venkatramani said.

It has been pointed out by some industry sources that each of the duty free shops in the international airports sell as many as 8.2 million cigarettes every month, which comes to 200 cigarettes every minute. "Obviously, a lot of this is leaking into the market," the sources said.