Delhi: PUC not valid? Pandemic won't save you from fine

NEW DELHI: Driving without a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate for your vehicle is going to cost you dearly, as nearly 2,500 vehicle owners recently found out.
The state government's transport department has cracked the whip on polluting vehicles with a special drive across the capital witnessing nearly 2,700 people getting penalised, the majority for not carrying valid PUC certificate.
The drive, which began from August 11, included 40 teams from the department's enforcement wing to check and penalise polluting vehicles, especially at the 13 pollution hotspots in the city that have been identified by DPCC.

These included Anand Vihar, RK Puram, Jahangirpuri, Vivek Vihar, Mayapuri, among others. Of the 2,680 vehicles penalised, 1,216 were challaned at these hotspots, including 1,101 for not carrying valid PUC.
From August 11 to August 24, a total of 27,656 vehicles were checked and 2,450 penalised for not carrying PUC certificates, the remaining 230 for being "visibly polluting".
The amended Motor Vehicles Act, which came into effect from September 1 last year, has hiked the fine for not carrying a valid PUC certificate from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. The ten-fold increase had resulted in a huge rush at the nearly 1,000 PUC centres across the capital, with the transport department issuing a staggering 14 lakh PUC certificates in September 2019 itself.
Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdown, the Union ministry of road transport and highways had extended the validity of all transport documents, such as driving licence, fitness certificates, permits, registration certificates, etc, that had expired by February 1 till December 31, 2020. Transport department officials, however, maintain that no such exemptions have been provided to vehicles that have expired PUCC. "Vehicles need to have valid PUCC or their owners should be prepared to pay a penalty. Motorists can't pollute under any circumstances," an official claimed.
PUC centres in the city were reopened in May as part of Unlock 1.0 process. However, in the month of June and July, only around 4 lakh vehicles got PUC checks and the transport department started taking strict measures to ensure compliance.
As a result, over 5 lakh PUC checks were carried out at the 966 PUC centres in the city till August 21.
The drive against polluting vehicles and PUC becoming mandatory for vehicle insurance from August 20 has also led to a rush at such centres. A number of vehicle owners also complain of frequent server failures and technical glitches, which forces them to visit these centres multiple times. "We have been facing technical issues with the server for some time. Meetings have been held in the department to rectify this problem," the official said, adding that the situation is expected to normalise soon.