Staff Reporter :
The existing four price tier (low, medium, high, and premium) system in cigarettes has rendered the tobacco price and tax measures less effective. Particularly, the very narrow price difference between low and medium tier cigarettes allows consumers to choose brands belonging to any of these two tiers. To safeguard public health, this glaring loophole can be plugged by merging low and medium price tiers and reducing the number of price tiers to three. Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) raised such demands on Tuesday during a FY 2025-26 pre-budget meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) held at the NBR Conference Room, chaired by Md. Abdur Rahman Khan, Chairman, NBR.
ATMA Delegation during the meeting includes Kawser Rahman, City Editor, The Daily Janakantha, Sazzadur Rahman, Deputy Editor, the Business Standard, Mortuza Haider Liton, Convener, ATMA, and Mizan Chowdhury, Co-convener, ATMA.
During the pre-budget (2025-26) meeting, the NBR Chair said that he would consider reducing the number of cigarette price tiers to three while simultaneously increasing the prices. He also appreciated PROGGA and ATMA’s proposal that suggests generating BDT 20,000 crore additional revenue through reforms in the tobacco tax structure.
