Taipei City Drastically Increases Whistleblower Rewards for Illegal Smoking: Park Smoking Rewards Rise to 30%, Effective as Early as September

The Taipei City Government has announced a draft amendment to the 'Regulations for Whistleblower Rewards for Violations of Health Management Regulations,' significantly increasing rewards for reporting illegal smoking and tobacco sales. Specifically, the reward for reporting smoking in smoke-free parks will increase from 5% to 30% (approximately 600 to 3,000 TWD); the reward for reporting the sale of tobacco to minors under 18 will rise to 50% (approximately 5,000 to 25,000 TWD). The draft is expected to take effect as early as September 1, 2016. Despite protests from smokers' rights groups labeling the move as 'snitching,' the Department of Health stated that all opinions will be included in the discussion.