In a bid to curb vehicular pollution in the national Capital region, the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government has decided to ban the sale of petrol and diesel at refueling stations to those without PUC (pollution under control) certificate.
From October 25, vehicle owners will not be provided fuel at the petrol pumps in Delhi without showing a valid pollution under control certificate. According to the Delhi Transport Department, over 17 lakh vehicles, including 13 lakh two-wheelers and three lakh cars, were plying without valid PUC certificates till July 2022.
Addressing a press conference, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Saturday said petrol and diesel would not be provided without PUC certificates at the petrol pumps in the national Capital from October 25. The Government will issue a notification soon.
The Delhi Environment Minister said that the decision was taken at a meeting of officials from environment, transport and traffic departments on September 29 during which modalities and implementation of the plan were discussed.
“Vehicular emission is one of the key contributors to rising pollution in Delhi. It is imperative to reduce it,” Rai said, adding the modalities of the plan will become clear in a week’s time.
Under Section 190(2) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1993, vehicle owners not having a valid PUC can be fined up to `10,000, or imprisoned for up to six months or both.
The owners are required to get their vehicles tested to ascertain if they meet emission standards for pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide.
The Minister said that all Government departments have also been advised to get PUC certificates of their vehicles checked.
“On March 3, 2022, we issued a public notice inviting suggestions on the implementation of the move “No PUC, No fuel”. “On May 2, suggestions were received and many people were in favour of the implementation of this move. So, the Government is preparing to implement it from October 25,” Rai told reporters.
However, the petrol pump association has suggested that if PUC is made mandatory for petrol and diesel, then the law and order situation may worsen. Based on this, on September 29, the Environment Department, along with the officials of Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Transport Department, Food Department, and Traffic Police, directed all the departments to find a solution.
Now, all departments will submit a plan within a week. After this, the Delhi Government will issue the notification.
The Transport Department had in October last year issued a circular deploying the enforcement staff at the petrol pumps to check the PUC certificates of vehicles that came in for refuelling.
There are 966 authorised pollution checking centres in the city. Delhi had 13,402,875 registered vehicles as on January 31, of which 7,771,075 (57 per cent) have been categorised as “active” vehicles by the transport department. This means these vehicles have a valid registration, have not yet hit the “end of life” age and are fit to ply on city roads. The remaining 5,631,800 (42 per cent) vehicles are either those without a valid registration or have been deemed invalid due to their age, according to the transport department analysis. Of the 5,631,800 vehicles, about three million are petrol vehicles that are 15 years and above, while the remaining are old diesel vehicles and those without valid registration or fitness documents, the analysis showed.
The Transport Department had in October last year issued a circular deploying the enforcement staff at the petrol pumps to check the PUC certificates of vehicles that came in for refuelling.