Dhaka, March 18 -- The existing four tier pricing system cigarettes has rendered the tobacco price and tax measures less effective and should be reduced to three to safeguard public health, the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) says.

Categorised into low, medium, high, and premium tiers, the narrow price difference between low and medium grade cigarettes allows consumers to choose brands belonging to any of these two tiers, ATMA said in a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Tuesday.

This loophole can be plugged by merging the low and medium price tiers, according to an ATMA statement released following the FY 2025-26 pre-budget meeting with the NBR.

During the meeting, the NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan said he woul...