Where You Can Smoke in Uzbekistan: The 2023 Law Explained
Uzbekistan's 2023 tobacco law, clause by clause: hotel rooms, the 5 m station zone, hookah, heated tobacco, 2026 snus and nasvay rules and fines.
Five metres. That's how far from the door of a railway station, bus station, airport, river port or metro station you have to walk before lighting up in Uzbekistan. The Senate's version of the bill said 15 metres; the final text, signed on 24 May 2023, settled on five.
This guide is built from the current text of law ZRU-844, "On restricting the distribution and consumption of alcohol and tobacco products", as published on the national legal database lex.uz (the edition we read is dated 1 March 2026), and from the fine schedule in Article 56-1 of the Administrative Code. If you vape, stop here and read our page on the laws visitors actually run into, because vapes are a separate and much more serious problem since 1 March 2026.
What the law covers, and since when
ZRU-844 replaced a 2011 law that never listed specific public places, which, as Gazeta.uz noted when it was signed, left people arguing over whether a given spot counted. It entered into force on 26 August 2023, three months after publication on 25 May. It has since been amended, most recently by law ZRU-1098 of 27 November 2025, whose changes took effect on 1 March 2026.
Two definitions matter first. "Tobacco product" in Article 4 explicitly includes heated-tobacco sticks, hookah tobacco and nicotine-containing hookah mixes, so an IQOS-style device is treated like a cigarette for every rule below. The bans also apply to "tobacco products and devices for consuming tobacco and nicotine", and the law's definition of devices names hookahs, pipes and heating systems.
The no-smoking places that catch visitors out
Article 24 bans smoking "in public places, including" a long list, so the list is a floor, not a ceiling. These entries matter most on a trip.
Hotels and guesthouses
The list covers premises "intended for providing housing services, hotel services, temporary accommodation services". The law doesn't carve out guest rooms, so our reading is that your room is included, and that applies to a family guesthouse in Bukhara as much as a Tashkent tower hotel. Article 24 also bars handing over rooms in these places for smoking, so a "smoking floor" doesn't fit the text either. Ask the owner where, if anywhere, smoking is allowed outside, rather than opening the window.
Stations, airports and the metro
Smoking is banned inside airport, rail, bus and river-port buildings, at metro stations and in metro carriages, at public transport stops, in underground pedestrian crossings and covered car parks, and in the open air within 5 m of the entrances listed above. Taxis are named too, so a driver smoking in his own cab doesn't make it legal for you; the same goes for the Tashkent metro, carriages and platforms alike.
Parks, beaches, stairwells
Squares, parks and beaches are on the list. So are the entrances and lifts of apartment blocks and children's and sports grounds, including those in the yard of a residential building. If you rent a flat, the stairwell is not a smoking area.
Restaurants, bars, shops and museums
All trade and service premises are smoke-free: cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs and internet cafes, plus cinemas, theatres, concert halls, museums and libraries. Petrol stations and other fire-risk places are listed separately.
Ordinary streets aren't named for tobacco (they are for alcohol), but the "including" wording means you shouldn't treat every pavement as fair game.
Where smoking is legal
Article 25 allows "specially designated places" in five kinds of location:
- outdoors, outside buildings and structures;
- in separate, ventilated buildings that aren't themselves on the public-place list;
- in isolated, ventilated rooms in the airside zones of airports, for checked-in and transit passengers, built so nobody in other rooms can watch people smoking;
- in the non-working vestibules of trains;
- at the rear of the decks of river vessels.
The law allows these places; it doesn't require them. We can't confirm that any given terminal or train has one, so don't plan a long connection around an airside smoking room.
On long-distance trains the vestibule rule is the one most smokers will use. Ask the carriage attendant which end, if any, is designated before you light up. Our sleeper train guide has more on the attendants and how a carriage is run.
Hookah: specialist venues only
Hookah has its own clause. Under Article 25, a hookah smoking place may only be set up in an isolated, ventilated building or premises where hookah service is the only thing on offer. An ordinary cafe can't simply add a hookah menu.
You'll still see older articles describe a 2018 "hookah law". That was a separate act, signed on 2 July 2018 and in force from 3 October 2018, which banned hookahs and e-cigarettes in public places such as cafes and restaurants, according to UzDaily's report at the time. Treat it as history: Article 42 of ZRU-844 repealed it, together with the 2011 law, so the hookah rule above is the only one in force.
Buying cigarettes: age 21 and hidden displays
The minimum age to buy tobacco, and to sell it, is 21 under Article 21. A seller must ask anyone who looks under 21 for ID and must refuse the sale if there isn't any. Article 22 adds a sign about the age limit at every point of sale.
Other Article 21 rules explain what you'll see at the counter:
- no single cigarettes and no opened packs, and no cigarette packs of fewer than 20;
- no vending machines, self-service shelves, online sales or street stalls;
- no sales inside stations, airports, river ports or metro stations, except in duty-free shops;
- no shops selling tobacco within 100 m of schools, sports facilities or religious organisations, unless they sit inside a market or shopping complex over 1,000 square metres.
Displays are banned too. Article 37 prohibits laying out or openly showing tobacco products in shops. Instead, the shop posts a plain alphabetical price list in black letters on white, with no pictures, and the seller shows you a pack only if you ask after reading the list. That's why a shop counter can look as though it doesn't sell cigarettes at all.
Snus, nicotine pouches and nasvay
This is where the rules changed most recently. The original 2023 text already banned the import and sale of "smokeless tobacco products, including nicotine-containing smokeless products", which covers snus and nicotine pouches; that clause came into effect nine months after the law did. The 1 March 2026 amendment widened it. Article 37 now bans the production, acquisition, storage, transport and sale, and the import and export, of smokeless tobacco products, nicotine pouches included, along with nicotine liquids and e-cigarettes. Carrying a tin of pouches is now itself an offence.
The penalties sit in Article 186-1 of the Administrative Code, in the edition in force since 1 March 2026. Buying or keeping banned tobacco products worth no more than one base calculation amount brings confiscation and a fine of one base amount; a repeat within a year brings two to five. Larger cases, including bringing banned products into the country, carry confiscation and 100 to 200 base amounts. For the larger offence, the code frees from liability anyone who voluntarily confesses to the authorities and hands the products over. Our take: leave pouches and snus at home.
Nasvay, the local smokeless product made from tobacco with alkali, lime or chalk, is the exception, and a narrow one. The law exempts its production, acquisition, storage, transport, sale and export. Import is not on that list, so bringing nasvay into Uzbekistan from a neighbouring country falls under the ban. For what else stays out of your bag, see our customs rules page.
Fines and who enforces them
Article 56-1 of the Administrative Code sets the fine for smoking in a public place outside a designated area at one third of the base calculation amount (BCA, or BHM in Uzbek). Smoking on an aircraft costs twice the BCA. The BCA rose from 412,000 to 440,000 som on 1 September 2026, according to Zamin.uz's summary of the decree (last checked: October 2026).
| Offence | Fine in base amounts | In som at 440,000 | Roughly in USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoking in a public place (Art. 56-1) | 1/3 | about 146,700 | $12 |
| Smoking on an aircraft (Art. 56-1) | 2 | 880,000 | $75 |
| Small amount of banned products, e.g. pouches (Art. 186-1) | 1, plus confiscation | 440,000 | $37 |
| Repeat within a year (Art. 186-1) | 2 to 5, plus confiscation | 880,000 to 2.2 million | $75 to $186 |
Dollar figures use roughly 11,800 som to the dollar. The code lets railway, water-transport and road-transport authorities deal with smoking on their own services.
Staff carry duties too. Under Article 26, whoever runs a public place, hotels and transport operators included, must warn anyone smoking where it's banned, report to the police if they carry on, and post no-smoking signs at entrances and in vehicles. Our guide to evenings in Tashkent covers the alcohol rules in the same law.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I smoke in my hotel room in Uzbekistan?
Not legally, on our reading. Article 24 of law ZRU-844 bans smoking in premises used for hotel and temporary-accommodation services, and it makes no exception for guest rooms. A hotel can set up an outdoor designated area under Article 25, so ask reception where it is.
How much is the fine for smoking in public in Uzbekistan?
One third of the base calculation amount under Article 56-1 of the Administrative Code. With the base amount at 440,000 som since 1 September 2026, that's about 146,700 som, roughly $12 (last checked: October 2026).
Is IQOS or heated tobacco allowed in Uzbekistan?
Heated tobacco is not on the Article 37 ban list, and the sales rules mention heated-tobacco sticks alongside cigarettes, so it can be sold in ordinary shops. But the law classes heated-tobacco sticks as smoking tobacco products. Wherever cigarettes are banned, so is an IQOS-style device, with the same fines. This is different from vapes, whose import, sale and possession have been banned since 1 March 2026.
Can I bring nicotine pouches or snus into Uzbekistan?
No. Import and sale of smokeless nicotine products were already banned under the original 2023 text, and since 1 March 2026 even buying, keeping or carrying them is prohibited. Pouches worth up to one base amount mean confiscation and a 440,000 som fine; importing can mean 100 to 200 base amounts. Nasvay is exempt inside the country, but its import is not.
Can you smoke hookah in Uzbek cafes?
Not in an ordinary cafe or restaurant. Article 25 allows hookah only in isolated, ventilated premises whose sole service is hookah. A place that serves food and also offers a pipe doesn't fit. Specialist lounges meeting those conditions are legal, and the age limit of 21 still applies.