In a bid to improve the emission levels in the country, the Supreme Court has made valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certification mandatory for renewal of the annual insurance for vehicles.
It is an offence to drive a vehicle without a valid PUC certificate, as well as insurance copy. If caught on the road without either of these two, the driver would be set back by ₹1,000 in for each document, along with a possibility of the car being impounded or the driver being served a court challan.
Sunita Narain, Director General, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “In Delhi, only 23 per cent of vehicles come for PUC tests. With mandatory linking of annual vehicle insurance with valid PUC certificate, the compliance level can improve significantly-especially as the Supreme Court has directed its enforcement nation-wide.”
Narain is also a member of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control ) Authority or the EPCA, a statutory body, which had recommended the mandatory linking of PUC with vehicle insurance to ensure higher compliance. EPCA is also empowered to enforce the graded action plan on air pollution.
Emission under check Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s Executive Director-Research and Advocacy, said, “The PUC system is critical to keep emissions of on-road vehicles under check. Overall improvement in compliance will lead to lesser emissions on road.”
The government has also been directed to audit all the PUC centres to ensure credibility of the tests. Further, the norms for pre-BSIV vehicles are also likely to be tightened. Starting April 1 this year, manufacturers are no longer allowed to sell vehicles lower than BSIV, which have lower emissions.