Noida petrol pumps face chaos over ‘No PUC, no petrol’ rule

Attendants said that if the administration wants to enforce the rule, traffic police and transport officers should be deployed at petrol pumps to check the vehicles.

Noida:A day after the “No PUC, no petrol” rule came into effect in Delhi-NCR, petrol pump operators in Noida said enforcing it is difficult and could lead to disputes with customers. Vehicle owners also described the rule as an unnecessary burden.

The attendants said checking vehicles was causing long queues, disputes and losses for petrol pump owners. (Sunil Ghosh/HT PHOTO)

The rule was introduced to curb vehicle emissions, including PM2.5 and carbon monoxide, ahead of the winter pollution season in Delhi-NCR.

“It is humanly impossible for us to scan the number plates of every vehicle before filling petrol,” said a petrol pump attendant at a Sector 54 petrol pump.

“Every rule is being forced on petrol pump attendants like us. We have no authority to decide whether someone is violating any rule. If we do so,it can lead to disputes,” added the attendant.

Attendants said that if the administration wants to enforce the rule, traffic police and transport officers should be deployed at petrol pumps to check the vehicles.

The Sector 54 petrol pump sells nearly 5,000 litres of petrol a day and serves more than 6,000 vehicles, including two-wheelers.

The supervisor of the petrol station said, “Currently, we are being told to check and make people aware of the new rule. After three to four days, we will stop filling petrol for vehicles without a PUC certificate.”

However, he said attendants could not forcibly stop consumers because it could lead to disputes. The “PUC Status” application was available on the devices used by petrol pump attendants, but they reported technical issues while scanning vehicle numbers.

“On Thursday, the application worked in the afternoon. On Friday, it had been down since morning, showing a message that PUC information was not available,” added the supervisor.

At a Sector 33 petrol pump, which sells nearly 10,000 litre petrol daily, attendants said the situation was more chaotic as they tried to deny fuel to vehicles without PUC certificates.

“It was a complete mess on Thursday. People started arguing and contacted the manager when we denied them petrol,” said an attendant at the Sector 33 petrol pump.

The attendants said checking vehicles was causing long queues, disputes and losses for petrol pump owners.

The number of PUC certificates issued at the Sector 33 petrol pump also increased.According to authorised tester’s data, 51 certificates were issued on Thursday, 54 on Wednesday, 22 on Tuesday and 30 on Monday.

A PUC certificate costs ₹120 for diesel vehicles, ₹90 for petrol vehicles and ₹70 for bikes.

A biker, Raju, who failed to obtain a PUC certificate, said, “It is another unnecessary rule to harass people. Despite paying money, we are harassed by petrol pump owners.”

Raju, who was riding an old bike without a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), said he was asked to get a Unique Identification number and OTP linked to the Aadhaar of the person in whose name the vehicle was registered.

“My bike is registered in the name of a person who is in America. The dealer is charging ₹1,500 for the UID number. If I skip these processes, a third-party tester is charging ₹950 to issue a PUC certificate using forging documents,” said Raju.

District supply officer of Gautam Budh Nagar, Nilesh Uppal said checking PUC status takes only a few seconds.

“We are also checking petrol pumps. We saw that people got angry, but the law has to be enforced to curb pollution. We have directed operators to deploy an additional attendant to check PUC certificates so that customers do not have to wait 15 to 20 minutes in queues,” he said.

“We have also told operators to inform us if the situation gets worse. We will then seek the help of the police. If the application is not working, they have been directed to continue supplying fuel without disruption,” added Uppal.

UP Petroleum Association general secretary Devendra Chaudhary said, “We can only raise awareness about the PUC rule at petrol pumps. We cannot enforce the law. We have told the administration that we will not get into fights with customers over PUC.”

The association also advised the administration to remove the Aadhaar OTP requirement from the PUC certificate process, saying it creates difficulties for vehicle owners.

There are nearly 1,100 petrol pumps in eight districts of NCR, including 112 in Gautam Budh Nagar. Chaudhary said that if they are forced to follow the rule, petrol pumps will go on strike.