Bengaluru: The government has decided to crack down on polluting vehicles in the city with an order to deny fuel to a vehicle with an invalid pollution-under-control (PUC) certificate, but the transport department remains in dark about whether it can share the authority to check documents with oil companies.
Transport minister Ramalinga Gowda says, “This is the last resort for us to contain pollution levels of the city. The draft notification is being reviewed legally and will shortly be notified to the citizens.” The department is yet to decide on how fuel station attendants will be trained to check documents and whether they can be given the authority to conduct such checks.
What do the residents and the transport authorities think of this latest initative to control pollution?
Residents speak
Pranav Sharad, a resident of Indiranagar 2nd Stage.”I travel abroad and my wife is usually in the city alone to manage a full-time job, the home and our child. If the emission test is not done on time, will she be stranded without fuel? If there is very little fuel in the tank, would she get stuck somewhere with my daughter, waiting for the traffic police or transport officials to come and sort the problem?”
“This seems more like a way to inconvenience people rather than crack down on real violators,” he added.
Some residents said new vehicles should be exempted from such rules. Supriya Samantha, who recently bought a vehicle that complies with BSIV emission standards, says, “Traffic police and transport officials often harass people in the name of enforcement. If this rule is put in place, we will be harassed even if a vehicle is brand new every time we go to refuel.”
Experts speak:
Experts say new vehicles that are Bharat Stage (BS) III or IV compliant do not pollute for the first year. “Cars come from the factory with a PUC certificate, but it is not valid for life,” says Ashok Rao of Mandovi Motors. “One needs to check emission levels of vehicles periodically.”
Transport department officials speak
Transport department officials say fuel stations can call the local regional transport office or traffic police to find out the emission levels of a vehicle and verify the PUC certificate. They can hold the customer until it is verified and then refill or not. “Most petrol/diesel bunks have emission centres within their premises or nearby. If the PUC certificate is found to be invalid, the vehicle owner can get the vehicle tuned to ensure emissions are within the limit,” said an official. This could lead to long queues at all fuel bunks at any time in the day.
Transport commissioner Rame Gowda said, “We have intensified our enforcement drives to book polluters and find and penalise fake emission certificate holders as well as centres that issue such fake documents. This notification says one must show the fuel station manager a PUC certificate to get fuel. In case the staff has doubts about the authenticity of the certificate, they can call the nearest RTO and verify it. They can take a call on whether to refuel the vehicle or send it for an emission test.”
Regulating fake emission testing centres
Meanwhile, the department has started another mechanism to verify the operations of emission testing centres. Maruthi Sambrani, joint commissioner (environment), transport department, said, “Whenever a vehicle comes in for an emission test at any testing centre, the data is collected real time on our portal, www.karnatakapuc.nic.in. The results of the test are sent as an SMS to the vehicle owner. If the vehicle owner does not get the SMS, it is an indication that the emission testing centre is faking it or does not have the right kind of equipment.”
The department has penalized 76 centres in the city having faulty equipment and suspended operation of 10 that were issuing fake PUC certificates. Bengaluru city has 301 emission testing centres and the rest of the state has 307.
