The Supreme Court on Thursday, August 10, 2017 passed a directive for Delhi-NCR region vehicle owners that in order to renew their vehicle insurance, it is mandatory for them to produce a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate
In a bid to ensure that the pollution level is kept under check, the Supreme Court has passed an order to mandate Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate to renew vehicle insurance policy.
As per the order, the court has made it mandatory for all the vehicle owners to produce the PUC certificate for annual renewal of vehicle insurance policy.
This will not only motivate the citizens to go for the PUC test but will also compel them to think about the environment.
Highlights of the notable PUC directive from the Supreme Court:
The rising air-pollution levels in Delhi is the primary concern of the state and national government, owing to which the Supreme Court has passed this rule.
To take strict measures against the rising air pollution level in Delhi-NCR, a bench of justice MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta issued several directives in regards to PUC programme.
The directive mandates to produce the PUC certificate at the time of annual renewal of vehicle insurance.
The old PUC programme had little compliance in Delhi, and only 23% of the vehicles came for PUC tests. This directive aims at improving PUC compliances, which will help in reduction of emissions from on-road vehicles, and thus, will reduce pollution.
The Centre for Science and Environment welcomes the directive, and calls it “notable,” and believes it will have a lasting impact in improving PUC compliance, which is the need of the hour.
However, the Union Ministry of Transport argued that the PUC Certificate and Insurance cannot be merged due to the periodical differences in the renewal period and may not be a good fit to improve the PUC compliance. To which Judge Aparajita Singh, assisting the court on behalf of the Environment Pollution [Prevention and Control] Authority (EPCA) said that a vehicle owner should produce the last four or at least two pollution certificates to renew the vehicle insurance.
The same rule could be made mandatory for the entire country. This means, all the vehicle owners across the country must produce the PUC certificate to insure their vehicle.
The plan of implementing the PUC directive from the Supreme Court:
All fuel stations will have PUC centres. The Supreme Court asked the Ministry of Road and Transport Highways (MoRTH) to empanel each station and list them on its website.
To ensure there is no manual tampering in the PUC programme, the Supreme Court directed the ministry to introduce automatic on-line network to link PUC data centres and mandate pre-payment of PUC fees for proper recording of tests.
The State governments will have a periodical audit of all PUC centres.
PUC norms for pre-BS IV vehicles, upgraded test procedures and other systemic changes to be heard on September 21, 2017.
To ensure the vehicle owners are under supervision and follow the programme, solicitor general Ranjit Kumar said, “We will develop a system under which a message will be sent to the owner, reminding him or her to apply for the PUC certificate upon its expiry. This will let vehicle owners know that they are under supervision.”
It is important to note that this rule may soon be mandated countrywide. And you must also adhere to it to insure your vehicle.
Is it too much to ask for to get your vehicle checked to contribute towards a cleaner and greener environment? Think about it.
Let’s welcome the regulation that will have a positive impact on the society.
Read, “The PUC certificate in India” post to know more.
