NEW DELHI: Soon, Pollution Under Control (PUC) testing and certification agencies will have to videograph the process of issuing PUC certificates to vehicles.
The transport department is likely to make it mandatory for all PUC testing centres to video-record the process of certification and upload it on a portal with relevant details of vehicles tested for PUC.
After the implementation of the order, the testing agencies will have to document the process of pollution fitness check in video, with a minimum duration of 10 seconds.
“The video will have to be uploaded on the ‘Vahan’ portal along with the photographic evidence showing the registration number of the vehicles tested which has been a standard practice so far. The video proof is an additional measure,” a senior official said.
The new regulation is likely to be implemented in the new year, with an official order that may be issued by the end of this week, the official added. Officials said that the move is being considered after several certification agencies were found involved in the issuance of fake PUC certificates to vehicle owners as well as manipulating the system to generate fitness proof for vehicles emanating pollutants beyond the permissible limit.
Such irregularities were found at 50 out of the 949 PUC certification centres in the city. “In our examination, we found that at many centres, certificates were issued without pollution testing and operators were only entering the vehicle registration numbers to document the process. We also found that they charged heavily for generating fake certificates for pollution-causing vehicles,” the senior official added.
Officials also said that the Union Ministry of Roads and Transport had recently asked all states and Union Territories to include video evidence of the vehicles tested for PUC by certification agencies. The ministry had also received similar complaints about the generation of fake PUC certificates, they added.
According to official estimates, nearly 3-4 lakh vehicles are checked for pollution in the national capital. The department has imposed fines worth over `30 crore on vehicles plying on the road without a valid Pollution Under Control certificates.