KOCHI: It seems that strict implementation of ticketing public smokers in the last five years has started to yield results. Latest data of Kerala police shows that the number of offenders under Section 4 of Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of advertisement and regulation of Trade and Commerce, production, Supply and Distribution) Acts (COTPA) has fallen in 2018 compared to 2017 and 2016.COTPA prohibits smoking in public places and it has largely deterred smokers from lighting up in public after they were slapped with fines.