Vaping is Illegal in India. So Why is Everyone Doing It?
17 Oct 2025 7:05 AM IST
In September 2019, India banned e-cigarettes with a sweeping law, the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act. On paper, the ban was complete: no manufacture, no import, no transport, no sale, no ads.
And yet, six years later, vaping hasn’t gone away. A few scrolls on Instagram, or a quick search online, and you’ll find vapes with flavours like blueberry, lemon, mint and rose.
The government says vaping is a gateway into cigarettes and harder drugs, that it will trap a new generation in addiction. At the same time, vaping is also a solid cessation device, for tobacco smokers.
So what’s really going on here? Why are vapes still so easy to find, despite the ban? And how do consumers and doctors see vaping? We explore it all in the latest episode of The Signal Brief.
The Core produces The Signal Brief. Follow us wherever you get your favourite podcasts. To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in
NOTE: A machine transcribed this episode. A human has looked at this text but there might still be errors. Please refer to the audio above, if you need to clarify something. If you want to give us feedback, please write to us at [email protected].
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TRANSCRIPT
Mustafa: I was, uh, with my, one of my friend. And he just asked me, he was having a vape.
He was smoking, so he asked me to just take one puff. So I just had one puff. And then after that I felt something different. Then, uh, I just, uh, I didn't, uh, I wasn't addicted to that on the first puff of course, but then I just bought new vape, and after a few days when it was finished, then it was ect, so I was like, eh, one wave was finished and I bought another one, yahi same kahaani, har din.
Kudrat (Host): Mustafa, who’s 17 and works for his father’s marketing and interior design company, admits he can’t stop vaping. We just heard the story of when he first tried it at age 14. He had never smoked a cigarette before. Mustafa says he’s aware of the harmful effects of vaping, but can’t seem to kick the habit. His story is hardly unique. Even though India banned vaping five years ago, many young people like him still can’t put it down.
Mustafa: it's gets me high, the first puff of the day. Mm. And I just wake up and just take a puff and, uh, the nicotine is really addictive. So say basically I get, I feel something different. And I feel like I'm fresh now after just taking the first puff. That's the thing. I am regularly smoking.
Kudrat (Host): My name is Kudrat Wadhwa and you’re listening to The Signal Brief. We don’t do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends.
India banned making, selling and advertising e-cigarettes in 2019. Today, we’re asking why vaping is everywhere, despite the ban.
Kudrat (Host): A Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik invented the first commercially successful vape in 2003. After losing his father to lung cancer, he wanted to create a safer alternative to smoking.
Unlike cigarettes, vapes don’t burn tobacco. They heat a liquid that releases the drug inside. Some people use nicotine vapes, others use those containing THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in cannabis. Since there’s no burning involved with vaping, there’s no tar, and no soot.
But that doesn’t necessarily make vaping safe. Nicotine is still addictive, and aerosols can irritate your lungs.
We’ll hear more from doctors on this later as well.
Kudrat (Host): Early vapes were clunky and awkward.
Then came two Stanford graduates, Adam Bowen and James Monsees, who wanted to reinvent the experience.
After a few prototypes, they built Juul — a sleek, flash-drive-sized vape that delivered nicotine with precision.
When it launched in June 2015, Juul became what many called the iPhone of vapes — small, stylish, and effective. But the sleek design came with a price.
Kudrat (Host): Juul’s success soon spiralled out of control. The company threw flashy parties, used influencers, and filled feeds with glossy ads. Juul was no longer just a quitting tool. It was cool.
By 2019, more than one in four US high school students said they’d vaped in the past 30 days — the highest ever recorded. Flavours like mint, mango, and crème brûlée made it irresistible to teens.
That same year, in May 2019, the Indian Council of Medical Research released a white paper warning that vaping was becoming a youth trend worldwide. It cited data from the US and Europe but none from India, where usage was still tiny and urban.
The warning set off alarm bells in Delhi. With youth vaping rates skyrocketing abroad, Indian policymakers decided to act before the problem grew at home.
By September 2019, Parliament passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act, banning the sale, import, and advertising of all e-cigarettes in the country, effectively wiping the devices off shelves overnight.
Before the ban, vapes sat openly on paan-shop counters. After the ban, some sellers cleared their shelves but others continued to stock it. But, not as openly.
The vaping business is buzzing online. If you search vaping india on google today, you’ll come across tens of websites selling vapes of different colours and flavours.
So, the ban, the market didn’t die, it simply moved online. IMARC now values India’s e-cigarette market at $2.2 billion.
A July 2023 study by the Public Health Foundation of India identified 83 e-stores selling e-cigarettes, including 49 in India and 34 overseas. The same study also found that at least 189 influencers on Instagram actively promote these products, portraying them as cool, tasty, and cheap.
These promotions often target adolescents through Instagram and Facebook, according to the study. And it works. Young people like Mustafa scroll, click, and buy.
In Delhi, some paan and smoke shops continue to stock vapes. The Signal Brief visited a couple such stores in South Delhi. When I asked for vapes, the shopkeeper at the first store took out five vapes from his front drawer. They were all from the company ‘ElfBar’ and said ‘Made in Shenzhen, China’ in the back. He said he knew selling vapes wasn’t legal but justified it by saying that so many others sell them as well.
Kudrat (from clip): आह वेव्स जो है ये कौन कौन लेता है यहाँ पे जैसे आगे क्या है लोगों की
Shopkeeper: आगे एड भी लेते है फिफ्टी प्लस भी लेते हैं फोर्टी प्लस भी लेते है लड़की भी लेते है तो ट्वेंटी ट्वेंटी त्वो के ऊपर है
स्मोकिंग छोड़ना चाहते है वो ज्यादा लेते है वो ज्यादा लेते है ओके।
ऐसे तो पता नहीं लोग तो ज्यादातर यही कहते है की स्मोकिंग छोड़नी है सो लेते है। या फिर कम करनी हो क्योंकि फ्लेवर होता है इसमें।
Kudrat (Host): In short, he said that everyone, from young adults to people over 50, buys vapes, often claiming they want to quit smoking. He also said that vapes end up being the most cost-effective even though they are more expensive. One vape costs about 1800-2000 rupees but lasts for a month. A pack of cigarettes costs about 300, but regular smokers consume that in just a day or two.
The second store I went to was a part of a chain of shops selling hookah pipes and other tobacco products. When I asked for vapes, the first shopkeeper refused, saying cops had recently raided his store.
The shopkeeper at the store beside him pulled out his phone in response. He showed me a catalogue of vapes, all from ElfBar as well. Because he worries about getting caught, he doesn’t stock them at the store. When a customer orders a vape, he sends his right-hand guy to fetch them and vôila, the customer gets his vape within 30 mins.
He swore he never sold to kids, then admitted he just guessed their ages without actually checking their IDs.
Kudrat (Host): Mustafa told me that almost all his friends, all in the 14-18 age range, vape regularly.
Of course, kids aren’t the only ones vaping. The Signal Brief also spoke to Subir, a 39-year old graphic designer who started vaping in 2018.
Subir: I was at a club and a friend of mine, uh, had got it, uh, I think a friend of mine was studying abroad. And they had carried it with them. This is the time that, uh, you could carry it freely, uh, you know, across countries and stuff. Also, there was no bans. Uh, and it was something really new that, uh, was introduced to us where, you know, someone just made us say that, Hey, this is a blueberry ice flavor or something.
Kudrat (Host): A few months in and Subir found himself getting dependent on the vape.
Subir: So the idea was that you just kept puffing and, uh, high stress environments and work and deadlines. Uh, it, it just seemed like a convenient, uh, thing to do, but, uh, I am still not sure if that was placebo or not, but, uh, when I did, started heavily using these devices, I, uh, after about five to six months, and there would be certainties where they, the usage would be heavy, uh, as well.
Uh, my chest definitely started hurting and I, uh, one part of my chest, uh, and I wouldn't say it was painful, but there was some sort of a discomfort or, uh, thing. And when I kind of consciously made an effort not to do so, uh, that pain kind of eased away and I did not, uh, feel, feel that. So I think this was my journey and, and, and slowly it started becoming, uh, like, you know, habitual that once, uh, your thing ran out, then you bought another pack, it, it's like that.
Kudrat (Host): Like Mustafa, Subir wasn’t chasing a high anymore, just routine. He is trying to quit vaping now, though. He and his colleague have made a pact, no vaping for a whole year. Subir’s chest discomfort isn’t unusual. Doctors say vaping isn’t harmless.
Dr. Vrinda: So vaping is, um, it's definitely not safe. Uh, so basically what it does is it delivers nicotine and uh, inhaled chemicals, right? So it's not like it's nicotine free. Uh, if so, if you're considering it as, uh, better automated to a cigarette, it really isn't because it still has nicotine.
Kudrat (Host): That was Dr. Vrinda Maheshwari. Nicotine, as Dr. Maheshwari said, is a harmful substance. Studies show that it can constrict airways, worsen asthma or other lung conditions and increase risk of cardiovascular disease, among other things.
Dr. Maheshwari said that she agrees with the ban, but that the govt needs to enforce it better. Vapes are still freely available in major cities across the country.
Kudrat (Host): Other experts contend the ban was a poor idea in the first place.
The Signal Brief spoke to Dr. Kiran Melkote, who’s worked extensively with the AHRER or the Association for Harm Reduction Education and Research. He told The Signal Brief that vaping is a solid route to smoking cessation, according to many studies
Dr. Kiran: So when we say harm reduction, it's as simple as, uh, some way to reduce the risk from a dangerous product.
vaping, uh, is likely to have about 5% of the risks of smoking, which means a 95% harm reduction.
So yes, it is off risk, but in the absence of vaping, it doesn't mean that nobody would not smoke. The idea is if people are vaping, they would be less likely to smoke because the reason for smoking is being sort of delivered by the vaping, which is nicotine, right?
The vaping ban is not rooted in science. It was rooted in fear mongering, it was rooted in emotions.
Kudrat (Host): Every year, 7 million adults die of tobacco usage. Nearly 17.8% of all deaths in India are attributable to tobacco use, according to recent studies.
This is a serious issue; and right now, the dominant methods of stopping smoking are nicotine patches and gums, which are freely available, including on amazon.
But, Dr. Kiran said patches don’t always work. That’s because the route of delivery of the NRT or Nicotine Replacement Therapy matters too. If you smoke cigarettes, you’re unlikely to kick your habit by chewing nicotine gum.
Dr. Kiran: So they have those inhalers abroad. And if you think about it, that's exactly what vapes do.
They're sort of for delivering nicotine directly into your lungs for a smoker who's used to that root of nicotine delivery. So that's the reason. And, uh, there are, there is now a mounting body of evidence. In fact, uh, there are, uh. Multiple studies and clinical trials. There's a review of reviews, which we call as a systematic review from Cochran Foundation that also showed that as compared to the best sort of treatment currently, whether it's clean, whether it's NRTs, nicotine, vapes, double the rate of sort of quitting cigarettes.
So, you know, straight away, uh, it actually showed that it's quite superior, It is quite superior to other NRTs. So, uh, that and every single country where they have been introduced, you have noticed it's substitutes for cigarettes.
Kudrat (Host): In 2019, vaping started becoming an issue among a tiny, urban youth population. India banned it, pre-emptively.
Some parents and doctors agree with the ban, since nicotine is harmful to health. But, harm-reduction experts like Dr. Kiran disagree.
There’s millions in India who are hooked on cigarettes, beedis and gutkas and for them, vaping could have been a bridge out. But the ban sealed that bridge.
Doctors like him cannot prescribe vapes. Scientists cannot even conduct studies on their efficacy in India. Moreover, Dr. Kiran says the ban didn’t obliterate vaping. Rather, it just pushed it underground. So what’s the bigger risk — letting vapes circulate openly or pushing them underground? That’s the question India still hasn’t answered.
Kudrat (Host): That's all for today. You just heard The Signal Brief. We don't do hot takes. Instead, we bring you deep dives into the how and why of consumer trends. The Core produces The Signal Brief. Follow us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
To check out the rest of our work, go to www.thecore.in.
If you have feedback, we'd love to hear from you. Write to us at [email protected] or you can write to me personally at [email protected].
Thank you for listening.
