Pollution Under Control Certificate

The Indian government has mandated the PUC certificate under the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1989. The PUC test determines the emission level of a vehicle and checks if it is compliant with the standard pollution regulation.

What is a PUC Certificate?

The smoke emitted from the vehicles, if not checked, can pollute the environment to a certain extent. PUC is the certification mark provided to the cars which shows the positive result as per the guidelines of the PUC test. The certification indicates that the emissions of the vehicle are aligned with the standard pollution norms and are not harmful to the environment. All cars on Indian roads are required to carry a valid PUC certification as mandated by the law.
 

Validity and Cost of PUC

When you buy a new car, the PUC certificate is issued for it, and the validity of the document would be one year. Following that the vehicle is required to go through the PUC test at regular intervals and a new certificate will be provided each time, it will pass the test successfully.
From the second time, the validity of the new certificate will be six months. In case any change in the reading is observed during the PUC test, the validity of the document will be finalized as per that reading.
If cars exhibit the higher levels of emission than the standard limits, the registration number of the vehicle will be provided to the RTO, Deputy RTO or Assistant RTO through the testing center within a day.
The cost of the PUC test is reasonable. It varies from Rs. 60-Rs. 100, based on the kind of tested vehicle and the type of fuel utilized in the car.

The Procedure of PUC Test

In diesel vehicles, the accelerator is pressed completely, and the readings of pollution levels are noted. The testing is done five times, and the final reading is constituted based on the average of all the five readings.

In petrol vehicles, the car is kept running at low speed without pressing the accelerator. Only one reading is taken to find out the result.

The Significance of The PUC Certificate
The PUC certificate consists of the following information:

• The serial number of the issued certificate
• The license plate number of the vehicle.
• The date on which the test was taken.
• The expiry date of the PUC certificate.
• The readings and observations of the test.

PUC Certification and Renewal of Car Insurance

At the end of 2017, the Supreme Court agreed for the implementation of the recommendations given by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) that focussed on battling the air pollution in India. The Bench of Supreme Court with Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Madan B Lokur stated that it is necessary to link the PUC Certificate with the motor insurance policy for the renewal of insurance. The bench that the vehicles which do not conform to these rules would not be permitted to extend the renewal of insurance coverage.
This was a remarkable ruling by the Supreme Court, as there had been many reports of vehicles having poor compliance with the PUC certification programme on a national level. It was observed that only 23% of the cars in Delhi attended the PUC tests.
Some of the significant points from the Supreme Court regulation are as follows:

• PUC centers are allowed at every fuel station - Although there had been recommendations to reduce the PUC centers in Delhi and NCR due to difficulty in the supervision of the establishments, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways disagreed to this. MoRTH specified to the court that it is necessary to have PUC centers in every fuel station. The court has agreed to this proposal stating that each station should be impaneled and listed on the website of MoRTH. The court has further ordered that the government should audit these stations on a regular basis for compliance.
• The automatic online network should be set up for linking PUC data centers - The SC has accepted the recommendation of connecting the PUC data centers automatically on the website and mandated the prepayment of fees for the PUC tests. There will also be the strict licensing system which will be provided after the audit of the PUC centers.
• As per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, every motor vehicle (including those compliant with Bharat Stage-I/ BS-II/ BS-III/BS-IV (emission standards regulated by the Government of India and set by the pollution board) as well as vehicles plying on CNG/LPG)- are required to carry a valid PUC Certificate after the expiry of one year period  from the date of its first registration

 

FAQs

Q1. Which vehicles require the PUC Certification?
All the motor vehicles moving on the roads are required to have the valid PUC Certificate.

Q2. Do I need to take a new PUC Certificate while traveling to a different state in India?
No, the PUC Certificate is valid all across India.