Less than 3 months of the ban on smoking in public places, the FDA claims to have already collected a fine of Rs. 5, 79,925 till November 2008 from those found breaking the rule in Maharashtra, among the highest collected from a state in the country.

Mr. Mohan Patankar, Jt. Commissioner FDA, says, "This ban was long introduced in 2004 and we did our best to fine the offenders even then. The collections from 2004-2008 (July) amounted to Rs 2, 55,000 as against Rs. 5,79,925 in just 4 months (Aug- Nov 08)."