With their vibrant candy-like colors and toy-like egg shapes, vapes were a must-have for many attendees at this year's Holi party in South Delhi's Siri Fort. Despite a complete ban, the vape culture in India shows no signs of fizzling out. Their easy availability bolsters both online and offline sales. Hundreds of websites and social media pages are catering to the younger generation, promoting these appealing devices as a healthier smoking alternative.
Over 40 Active Websites
India Today's open-source intelligence team (OSINT) has assessed the expansive market of these banned yet thriving vape products. Our research uncovered at least 157 domains featuring the keyword 'Vape', with 40 actively selling vapes in India.
It's not just websites—platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Telegram are teeming with channels selling these banned products. India Today identified at least 633 Instagram pages with usernames featuring 'Vape' or 'Vapes.' More than three dozen of these channels operate in India, over 70 have a global reach, and around 200 pages openly advertised this viral puff device.
Users Believe It's Less Harmful
The 2019 law prohibiting the manufacture and sale of e-cigarettes cited public health, intending to prevent harm. Yet, enthusiasts argue that these electronic devices are less harmful than traditional cigarettes. A Delhi-based professional, requesting anonymity, claimed that vaping helped them take steps towards quitting smoking.
Source: aajtak
Samrat Chowdhery from the Association of Vapers India, an advocate for less harmful tobacco products, states that vaping is considerably less harmful than smoking. It is twice as effective in aiding smoking cessation, more so than traditional nicotine gums or patches, backed by global scientific consensus.
Youth Population Hooked: Know the Business Scale
However, pulmonologists refrain from giving vapes a clean bill of health. Dr. Ashish Jaiswal from Greater Noida's Kashvi Hospital warns that while vaping might be seen as a healthier option, it still contains nicotine (which is addictive) and other potentially harmful chemicals that can affect lung health and cardiovascular function. Especially since they're illegally sold, vapes pose significant risks to lung health.
Prices Up to 20,000 Rupees
For the average consumer, vapes cost more than regular cigarettes. Vaping devices range from ₹650 to over ₹20,000. A Noida vendor selling vapes on Instagram, with over 15,000 followers, told India Today their sleek and fashion-forward vapes are priced between ₹650 and ₹2,599, including additional charges for delivery and packaging. Disposable vapes, their best sellers, are generally priced between ₹1,199 and ₹1,499. Rechargeable variants offering up to 6,000 puffs start at ₹2,099. The vendor claims to have personally encased the products.
On some online sites, vapes offering up to 10,000 puffs are priced around ₹10,000. To attract Gen Z buyers, enticing branding with names like ‘The Motherpuffer’, ‘Brain Freeze’, and ‘Astronaut Projector’ are common. High-quality variants offering up to 30,000 puffs are sold between ₹5,000 and ₹21,000.
Vape Culture Growing on Social Media
Since 2019, the Indian government prohibited the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage, and advertisement of e-cigarettes. According to the e-cigarette prohibition act, individuals in possession were required to declare and surrender them within 90 days of enactment. The widespread sale and consumption of vapes are evidence of the law's ineffectiveness.
Social media platforms have policies regarding banned products. For instance, Instagram's policy on 'Restricted Goods and Services' prohibits vape sale or purchase on the platform. While Instagram doesn’t ban content promoting the use of vaping products, it doesn’t consider such posts for suggestions to others either. Paid promotions are entirely forbidden.
Vape culture is booming in India, especially on Instagram, where short videos or reels featuring youngsters vaping often gain more views than other types of posts. An example is a young Instagram user with more than 5,000 followers, whose reels typically receive 10,000-12,000 views. However, a reel featuring vapes reached 19 lakh views. Vapes frequently appear in popular creators’ social media posts, which normalizes their use and adds a ‘coolness’ factor to the device.
Reaching Into Smaller Towns
Internet personality Ori was allegedly caught vaping at a November awards ceremony where influencers like Apoorva Mukhija and Rida Tharana were also present. Many remain unaware of vapes' legality and often flaunt the product in their content. In one such video, a creator from Jharkhand asks her mother to identify a vape, to which her mother misidentifies it as a power bank. This video has amassed 27 million views.
The failed attempt to ban vapes has left room for low-quality product manufacturing, and accountability for any user harm remains elusive. Samrat Chowdhery, supporting vapes, claims that e-cigarettes are now sold at every other tobacco vendor, even in Tier II and III cities, alongside online sales. The issue lies not only in tax evasion and lack of quality checks but also in increased accessibility to teenagers, as smugglers disregard to whom they are selling.
