Over 61,000 PUC certificates issued as fuel rule begins

The Delhi Government on Thursday said more than 61,000 Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates were issued between December 17 and 18, as motorists rushed to comply with the ‘no PUC, no fuel’ rule that took effect on Thursday.

According to official data, 31,974 certificates were issued on Thursday alone—the first day of the enforcement drive — while 29,938 were issued on Wednesday.

Officials said over 1.56 lakh challans have been handed out in the past two months to motorists found driving without valid PUC certificates. There are around 400 petrol pumps in Delhi, all of which have PUC centres.

According to official data, 31,197 PUC certificates were issued on December 17, compared to 17,732 on December 16. This marked an increase of 13,465 certificates, or a 75.9 per cent rise within 24 hours.

In the days preceding December 17, PUC issuance had remained largely stable, ranging between 16,000 and 17,700 certificates per day from December 10 to December 16. The figures stood at 17,044 certificates on December 10, 16,419 on December 11, 16,305 on December 12, 16,551 on December 13, 16,624 on December 14, and 17,719 on December 15.

Of the total 1,56,993 challans, each carrying a fine of Rs 10,000, were issued during the GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) period this year between October 14 and December 15. This accounted for a significant share of the 8.22 lakh challans under this category in 2025 till December 15.

Earlier this week, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced that vehicles without a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate will not be provided fuel at petrol pumps in the city from Thursday.

A petrol pump owner said queues outside PUC centres swelled on Wednesday as motorists rushed to obtain certificates. “People were getting the certificates issued to avoid fines,” he said.  Nischal Singhania, president of Delhi Petrol Dealers’ Association, said that while queues at PUC centres increased, sales of petrol and diesel have declined.

“We think people are heading to fuel stations in neighbouring areas of Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad for refuel. There may also be a fear psychosis at work, with people worried about being penalised for other offences due to heavy deployment of personnel,” he said.

Enforcement agencies also took action against construction and demolition (C&D) waste violations. During the GRAP period, 545 challans were issued for transporting debris and related material without proper covering, an offence that attracts a fine of Rs 20,000. The data also shows strict monitoring of commercial and goods vehicles at Delhi’s borders. During the GRAP phase, 2.90 lakh non-destined goods vehicles were checked, of which 8,682 were turned back.

Under the directions of the Commission for Air Quality Management, banning the entry of diesel commercial vehicles of BS-III and below from November 1 to December 15, enforcement teams checked 1.83 lakh vehicles. Of these, 1.80 lakh were allowed to enter, while 3,393 were turned back. A total of 429 such vehicles were issued challans within Delhi, officials said. Traffic police data further shows that in 2025, 19,479 diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 and 15 years, respectively, were impounded, compared to 11,916 in 2024 and 528 in 2023.

Enforcement against vehicles without valid PUC certificates has more than tripled in the past three years, rising from 2.32 lakh in 2023 to 8.22 lakh in 2025 till December 15.

The Delhi Government has also banned the entry of non-Delhi private vehicles below BS-VI standards and enforced the ‘no PUC, no fuel’ rule, which came into effect in the Capital on Thursday as part of intensified measures to tackle air pollution.

Under the rule, fuel stations have been instructed not to dispense fuel to vehicles without valid PUC certificates, with enforcement supported by police personnel, voice alerts, and camera-based systems.