A network of tobacco tax experts has blasted a so-called research firm for publishing “fabricated and absurd” data to mislead the government and undermine tobacco control initiatives.

In a strongly worded statement issued on Monday, the Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP) accused Insight Matrix of working as a front for multinational tobacco companies.

The group said the firm is deliberately trying to obstruct the ongoing tobacco control law amendment process, interfere in government policy, and confuse the National Board of Revenue (NBR) with manipulated statistics.

Insight Matrix is serving the interests of big tobacco by producing a so-called study that is completely detached from reality,  the statement said.

This propaganda is designed to sabotage government initiatives and protect the profit margins of multinational companies at the expense of public health, it added.

BNTTP noted that on January 9 this year, NBR raised cigarette prices and tax rates across all tiers — a move welcomed by health experts and policymakers alike.

But instead of complying, tobacco companies launched a campaign claiming the reforms would fuel smuggling, expand illicit trade, and slash revenue collection.

“Their claims are nothing but lies. The so-called research does not mention methodology, sample size, or even the name of the ‘external agency’ it cites. Such deliberate omissions prove its lack of credibility and expose the hidden hand of the tobacco industry,” the statement added.

As evidence of the “sheer absurdity” of the report, BNTTP highlighted its claim that Bangladesh has 39.6 crore shops selling illegal cigarettes — more than twice the country’s entire population. The report also alleged 6.8 crore shops in Dhaka and 14.3 crore in Chattogram. “These are not only false, but laughably impossible figures,” BNTTP said.

The network also ridiculed the claim that 82% of retailers regularly receive illicit cigarette supplies. “Nearly all shops are directly controlled by multinational companies. What they sell is decided by the companies themselves. This claim is a deliberate distortion,” it said.

BNTTP pointed out that independent research shows illicit cigarettes make up only 5.62% of the total market. It further cited a Dhaka University study showing that tobacco companies evade nearly Tk 5,000 crore in taxes annually by selling cigarettes above the official retail price.

The network urged NBR and other government bodies to remain vigilant against “such fraudulent campaigns” and called on the media to stop giving space to baseless studies that directly serve corporate interests.