When the government enforced a blanket ban on vape products on the first day of 2026, the formal market collapsed overnight. What followed was not disappearance, but migration.
Within weeks, vape transactions moved to Facebook and Telegram groups, where an estimated 1 lakh users now source cartridges, e-liquids and devices through informal networks, according to industry insiders.
Besides online channels, vape products are now being sold on the footpaths in key areas of the capital.
Travellers began bringing vape products in personal luggage from abroad, while some former retailers quietly shifted their remaining stock to discreet, off-the-record sales.
The Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (BENDSTA) says the ban has not reduced demand but has instead driven the trade underground, resulting in what it calls a significant loss of taxable revenue for the government.
“Before the import ban, the total duty on vape products was as high as 289 percent,” BENSDTA told TIMES.
Since January 2025, the import of e-cigarette products in Bangladesh has been prohibited leading to a complete ban in January 2026.
BENDSTA president Sumon Jaman said, even after India banned vaping in 2019, the black market for vape products expanded, and usage did not decline. Instead, health risks increased due to counterfeit products, and the government lost revenue.
He added that a similar situation is now emerging in Bangladesh.
A BENDSTA member estimated the market of e-cigarette products in Bangladesh was in the ballpark of Tk 70 crore before the import ban.
TIMES spoke to several vape users, who requested anonymity, about how they have been coping since the ban.
“I have bought e-liquids twice from someone online since January,” one user said. “The products arrived, but I’m not sure whether they were original. I just hope they were.”
Another user complained about the sharp price increase in the underground vape market.
“I used to buy this product from the shop for Tk 1,200, but now I have to pay TK 1,600-1,700 for the same product,” he said, referring to the higher prices charged by informal sellers.
He added that limited supply and the absence of regulation have allowed sellers to raise prices significantly above the previous retail rates.
The correspondent also encountered at least five former vape users who said they had switched back to traditional cigarettes following the ban, citing limited access and uncertainty over product authenticity in the informal market.
Anisuzzaman Naser Khan, owner of a vape shop in Dhaka, said, “From January 1, everything shut down. We can’t lay off staff without notice, yet rent and bills keep piling up. The monetary loss is unimaginable.”
“Customers have come, but we refused to sell them products complying to the policy. In just a single shop, I’m facing a loss of around 15–20 lakh taka since January.”
“I myself smoked for 27 years, but I quit in 2015. Now what am I supposed to do? I still have a dependency, it hasn’t gone away,” he added.
Khan said, “We have told the government that this should be regulated. If we do not comply, they can punish us, but that does not mean the product should be banned outright.”
Hossain Ali Khondokar, a former member of the health ministry committee that drafted the policy, said the main reason for the ban is widespread addiction caused by the artificial nicotine in these products. He added that claims of e-cigarettes being “less harmful” are misleading, as all nicotine products are harmful.
“The government plans to eliminate cigarettes by 2040. How would introducing a new product help achieve that?” he asked.
Amid growing frustration over the sudden shutdown and its market consequences, the legal challenge to the ban gained momentum.
On Sunday, the High Court issued a rule asking why Section 6(GA) of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Usage (Control) Act, 2005, which prohibits the import, supply, and sale of vape and e-cigarettes, should not be declared unconstitutional and illegal.
The court also directed the authorities not to confiscate or seize vape and e-cigarettes that have already been imported into the country until further orders.
The bench of Justice Ahmed Sohel and Justice Fatema Anwar issued the order in response to a writ petition filed by 41 businessmen, including Masud Uz Zaman, managing director of Vapor Cloud Ltd.
During the hearing, the petitioners’ lawyer, Barrister HM Sanzid Siddiqui, argued that the provision is discriminatory.
He contended that while the law completely bans vapes, which are recognised in several countries as harm-reduction alternatives, it continues to permit the manufacture and sale of conventional cigarettes, a leading cause of cancer.
He further submitted that this selective prohibition violates the equality clause under Article 27 of the Constitution.
“This is a discriminatory ordinance, and it was enacted with mala fide intent,” he told TIMES. “Cigarettes are allowed while vapes are banned under the same law. This creates clear discrimination between the two industries.”
He argued that the government cannot enact a law to protect one industry while shutting down another, calling it a constitutional violation.
According to him, authorities may regulate the sector through guidelines on packaging, labelling and advertising, but cannot impose a complete prohibition.
Siddiqui said he expects the ordinance to be scrapped following judicial review.
In 2025, the government passed the amendment of the tobacco control ordinance, banning the production, import, sale, and use of e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.
