Monitoring smoke-free laws in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai, India

Background. Smoking tobacco affects the health of smokers as well as non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke. The Government of India enacted the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act in 2003, which included a ban on smoking in public places and on sale of tobacco around educational institutions. We assessed the extent of compliance with these laws in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey using an observation checklist in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai. We used cluster sampling for restaurants and random sampling for schools and colleges. We collected data regarding the signage displaying prohibition of smoking as per the law and sale of tobacco products around educational institutions. We estimated the proportions for various indicators. Results. Among the 400 restaurants surveyed, 371 (92.8%) did not have any signage displaying prohibition of smoking and of the 29 restaurants with signage, only 4 were as per the specifications. There were 62 (15.5%) smoking events in restaurants at the time of visit for survey. Among the 287 schools surveyed, only 8 (2.8%) had the signage displaying prohibition of smoking and 2 (0.7%) had the signage for ban on sale of tobacco products. Of the 54 colleges surveyed, 8 (14.8%) had the signage displaying prohibition of smoking and 7 (13%) had the signage for ban on sale of tobacco products. Conclusion. There was low compliance of smoke-free laws in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai. We recommend a robust monitoring mechanism to ensure the enforcement of smoke-free laws in public places.