Guide
Quit-smoking helplines in India, and what each is for
· 4 min read
India has three free government services for this and they do different jobs. All of them are staffed by people, none of them costs anything, and none of them will ask you to buy a programme.
8am – 8pm, every day
Free counselling for tobacco use, run by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. Regional-language support through centres in Delhi, Guwahati, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Official pageGive a missed call — they call you back
The government's SMS-based quit programme. You give a missed call, it registers you, and the support arrives as texts rather than as an app you have to remember to open.
Official page24 hours, every day
India's national mental health line, in English and 20 regional languages. This is the one to call if the problem has stopped being about cigarettes.
Official pageWhich one to call
You want to quit and want a person to talk to
The National Tobacco Quitline. Free counselling from trained staff, and they will call you back rather than leaving it entirely on you to keep ringing.
You would rather not be on a phone call at all
mCessation. One missed call registers you, and the support arrives as text messages — no app to remember to open, and it works on any handset.
It has stopped being about cigarettes
Tele-MANAS. If the smoking sits on top of something heavier, or you are in crisis at 3am, this is the one — around the clock, in 20 regional languages plus English.
What actually happens when you call
You are not signing up for anything, and nobody asks for money. A counsellor asks what you smoke, how much, and what you have already tried, and then works out a quit date with you. The Quitline calls back over the following weeks, which is the part that does the work — the first conversation is easy and week three is not.
The Quitline is run by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare out of Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute in Delhi, with regional centres in Guwahati, Bengaluru and Mumbai handling other languages. Calls are free from any Indian number.
If you are in crisis right now
Tele-MANAS answers on 14416 at any hour, free, in English and 20 regional languages. You do not need to have a plan or know what to say first.
These numbers were checked against Ministry of Health sources in July 2026; each card links to the official page it came from. If you want something to count while you wait for the callback, the taper guide is the method.