Public PUC centers opened in Delhi state owned Bus depots

With the move, the authorities plan to divert some of the traffic from the over-congested PUCs but lagging infrastructure has proven to be a hurdle in the successful implementation of the scheme.

NEW DELHI: With the introduction of the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, the challans imposed for traffic norm violations has been increased substantially. One of such increment is levied on failure of production of PUC (Pollution Under Control) Certificate. The amount of the fine has now been increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 and this has resulted in vehicle owners rushing to update the certification for their vehicles, marking an increase of up to 3 times in the number of applicants per month. The PUC centers, a total of 914 in the National Capital, have proven to be ill-equipped in dealing with this increased traffic, causing delays. Seeing this, the Delhi government has decided to open PUC centers in the state run bus depots from 11^th September.

Addressing a press conference, Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said, “Out of the over 10 million registered vehicles in Delhi, there are 73 lakh vehicles that are running on city roads. Because of the steep hike in traffic offences we are seeing rush at PUC centers. We have taken some measures to decongest these centers. Our bus depots and terminals will be open for the public to conduct pollution checks.”

A DTC official told Urban Update, “Officials from DTC offices have underwent a day of training on 10^th September as soon as the order was circulated. The officials were briefed about the operation by independently operated PUC centers located near their respective depots. The centers, which were originally installed to regularly check pollution levels of DTC buses, will now be open to the public between 11 AM to 7 PM.”

The official further added,” In the case of failure of compliance with the emission norms, the vehicle would still be charged for the test without the issuance of the PUC certificate.”

Although the step could prove to be a success in decongesting the pre-existing centers, it is far from reaching its full potential. The bus depots are plagued with connectivity problems like server issues and poor internet connections, which renders them not operational as of now.  Another official, on the condition of anonymity, stated, “The internet has been inactive since the PUC has been made public and as of now, we are unable to issue certificates from this particular center.”