In a major move to tighten real-world emissions from vehicles, the government has issued a notification making it mandatory to record a video when conducting the Pollution Under Control (PUC) testing process. The mandate applies to all vehicles being tested for PUC certification across the country. The videos will be uploaded to the government’s VAHAN portal before the certificate is issued to the vehicle owner. The new guidelines will be applicable in Delhi with immediate effect with more states to follow soon.
The latest regulation aims to curb fraudulent practices when handing out PUC certificates. This will also help guarantee the accuracy of PUC certificates making the PUC centres accountable. The decision was made after authorities received several complaints about some PUC centres issuing PUC certificates without even testing the vehicles. In the wake of the rising pollution levels across most Indian cities, the need is now more than ever to strictly enforce emission control on vehicles already plying on roads.
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In order to facilitate the change, the VAHAN portal, which serves as the national registry for e-services by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has undergone changes to incorporate the video uploading function. The changes were incorporated by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), granting access to PUC centres across the country.
As per the Motor Vehicle Act 1989, the PUC certificate is a mandatory document for every vehicle. Owners need to have an up-to-date version of the PUC certificate with them at all times. The document essentially verifies that the vehicle has permissible emission levels to ply on the roads. Needless to say, these are not required by electric vehicles. Make sure to always get the PUC certification done at an authorised centre.
