Now, expect pollution certificate checks at fuel stations in Delhi

However, the lack of a valid PUCC doesn’t necessarily entail a fine as motorists will be allowed to undergo a pollution check on the spot for a fresh certificate. The move comes at a time when the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR kicks in from Friday

Motorists can expect to be asked for their vehicle’s pollution under control certificate (PUCC) during fuelling trips as the state transport department is going to deploy teams at petrol pumps across the city to ensure compliance to motor vehicle rules.

Officials said that those refusing to undertake a pollution test or fleeing from the spot will be issued challans, with a fine of ₹10,000. (Amit Bhargava/HT Archive)

Officials said that those refusing to undertake a pollution test or fleeing from the spot will be issued challans, with a fine of ₹10,000.

However, the lack of a valid PUCC doesn’t necessarily entail a fine during the drive as motorists will be allowed to undergo a pollution check on the spot for a fresh certificate.

The move comes at a time when the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR kicks in from Friday.

Exhaust fumes from vehicles is a major cause of pollution in the Capital.

“Till now, our teams have been deployed at major roads and they catch vehicles from the moving traffic, which becomes a random pick in most cases. But now, we are going to deploy teams at random fuel stations as cars and two-wheelers invariably have to visit to get refuelled,” said Ashish Kundra, Delhi’s transport commissioner, adding that 56 teams will be deployed in and around fuel stations for the drive.

“Our teams will conduct spot checks and facilitate motorists to get their vehicles tested and get a fresh PUCC issued. The good thing about conducting this drive is that most of our PUCC centres are at fuel stations only. But, this does not mean there will be no spot challans for violators. Those who refuse to get their vehicles tested for a fresh certificate will be penalised as per the MV Act,” he added.

Officials said that those refusing to undertake a pollution test or fleeing from the spot will be issued challans, with a fine of ₹10,000.

Government records seen by HT showed that Delhi currently has nearly 1.4 million vehicles registered with the state transport department which do not have a valid PUCC. Not having a valid PUCC attracts a fine of ₹10,000, six months’ imprisonment or both.

Data shared with the transport department showed that in the last two weeks (October 1-14), the state transport department issued 353,139 PUCCs. The department had issued 544,186 PUCCs in September. Delhi has around 1,000 PUCC centres.

SB Deepak Kumar, special commissioner, transport, said in the past four days alone, the department issued 140,000 certificates in the city. “Besides, we have managed to reduce the number of vehicles without a valid PUCC from 1.8 million to about 1.4 million in just two weeks. We are intensifying the drive further by also sending electronic notices to vehicle owners. This month alone, we have sent at least 2.5 million electronic messages to such vehicle owners. The message also includes the warning that driving a vehicle without a valid PUCC is a punishable offence,” he said.

The number of challans issued for vehicles without valid PUCCs also increased by about 200% this month, as compared to September.

From October 1 to 12, a total of 2,670 motorists were fined for driving without a PUCC, as against 2,375 challans issued for the same offence in whole of September.

When asked about complaints from motorists about PUCC centres not issuing certificates due to dysfunctional servers, he said the software is being upgraded to increase the bandwidth of applications that can be processed each day.

“In August, only about 3,000 PUCCs were being issued every day. Now this has increased to over 41,000 per day in the past few days. So, the load on the servers has increased 10 times. But, we are rectifying all the issues. It is being done,” he said.