Lights, Camera, Check: Video shoots made compulsory for getting PUC certificates

Getting Pollution Under Check (PUC) certificates for your vehicle is going to become difficult as the government has initiated an additional step during their pollution certification process. In a bid to curb the rising issue of fraudulent PUC certificates, PUC centres are now required to record a brief video while conducting pollution level checks on vehicles. The recorded clips will have to be uploaded to the Central government's VAHAN portal, a TOI report stated.

The decision comes in response to numerous complaints indicating that some PUC centres were negligently issuing certificates without conducting proper vehicle inspections. Officials revealed that these complaints were widespread across all states, prompting the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to mandate video documentation.

The National Informatics Centre has implemented the necessary modifications to the VAHAN portal, the national register for e-services provided by MoRTH. Delhi has taken the lead as the first state to fully adopt this enhanced system. An official stated, "All PUC centres in the capital have begun recording 10-second video clips while assessing pollution levels for two-wheelers, cars, and both passenger and commercial vehicles. Simultaneously, these videos are uploaded onto the portal."


According to the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989, every vehicle must possess a valid PUC certificate after the initial one-year period from its registration date. For four-wheeler BS-IV compliant vehicles, the certificate is valid for one year, while for others, it is valid for three months.

As of now, Delhi has over 97 lakh registered vehicles, with 27.8 lakh cars and 69.8 lakh two-wheelers. Shockingly, approximately 22 lakh vehicles lack PUC certificates, with over 85% of these being two-wheelers, as per transport department data.

Until November 30 of this year, PUC centres in the capital examined more than 45 lakh vehicles, issuing certificates to compliant ones.

Meanwhile, obtaining a pollution-check test might also become costlier, with the transport department proposing an increase in PUC certificate charges. Currently, the fees stand at Rs 60 for two-wheelers, Rs 80 for petrol-powered four-wheelers, and Rs 100 for diesel-powered four-wheelers, with an additional 18% GST levied on these rates.