Karnataka launches ‘Stop Tobacco’ app to curb public smoking

The Karnataka Tobacco Control Cell launched GPS-based mobile app ‘Stop Tobacco’ Tuesday. The app protects non-smokers from being exposed to cigarette smoking in public places.

If anyone is found smoking in a public place, all that needs to be done is to take a picture of the violator and upload it on the app. The squad from the tobacco control cell will rush to the spot and slap a fine on the violator.

“Presently, we are concentrating on the shop owners who sell cigarettes and allow their customers to smoke at the shops. We cannot slap a fine on the violators every time because, by the time the squad will reach, they might have left the shop. So the fines will be a deterrent for the shopkeepers as well to not allow their customers to smoke at the shop,” said Karnataka health commissioner Randeep D.