What is the Full Form of PUCC

PUCC: Pollution Under Control Certificate

PUCC stands for Pollution Under Control Certificate or also called PUC ( Pollution Under Control) Certificate. It is a kind of document that is issued by certain authorised pollution ventures that determine the pollution caused by a vehicle. They test a vehicle's emissions of harmful gases and substances, and the certificate is to certify that the emissions are controlled and are within the norms set by the concerned authorities.

What does PUCC mean?

• The government of India mandated this certificate, in 1989, under the Central Motor Vehicle Rule. The job of the testing labs is to assess the emission of harmful substances by the vehicle and check if the standard pollution regulations are being followed or not.
• For an automobile to be legally registered in India, it must have a valid driver's licence, insurance, and a Pollution Under Control Certificate. The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 stated that all vehicles operating on Indian highways must have insurance. The PUC Certification is also required under the Central Motor Vehicle Rule, 1989.
• A lot of efforts are being made to control the continuously increasing level of pollution in India. The Pollution Under Control Certificate is a very important attempt and a significant step towards achieving that. The pollution in India has drastically increased, and the situation is deteriorating, leading some living areas to become fatal and prone to harmful diseases, problems in breathing, problems in eyesight and even brain injuries which lead to many deaths every year.

• The PUC certificate has a specific kind of certification mark on it, which is a compulsory requirement for all the new motor vehicles that are being sold in India.
• In addition to that, the certificate and the mark stay valid for the period of only six months after the sale of that new vehicle. After the completion of those six months, the vehicle has to undergo the test again in the garage of the company, and after its maintenance, a new certificate has to be issued certifying that its emissions are in control. This is the reason why this certificate is called the Pollution Under Control Certificate.

What is the PUCC Number in a Vehicle?

There are several important pieces of information that this single certificate carries with it, such as the registration number of the vehicle, the serial number associated with PUCC, the date on which the emission test was conducted, the readings of the test and most importantly, the expiry date of the test. As written earlier, the PUCC certificate is one of the essential documents that the driver or owner of the vehicle must have with him/ her at all times.

Validity and Cost:

• When a person buys a new car, a PUC certificate is given for the vehicle, and that certificate stays valid for a duration of one year. After the expiry date of the certificate, the vehicle should undergo a PUC test at defined intervals and receive a new certificate with a new expiry date every time. This process is mandatory, and if it does not flow properly, it can lead to a lot of trouble for the owner of the vehicle.
• In general, the PUC certificate that is issued after the expiration of one year certificate is six months. But, when adverse readings are observed after the test of a vehicle, then the validation time may be altered according to the adversity of the readings observed.
• If the emission by a vehicle turns out to be more than the levels prescribed, the RTO, Deputy RTO or Assistant RTO gets informed about the registration number of that vehicle by the testing centre within one day.
• It is not very expensive to get a vehicle tested for a PUC certificate. The price range varies from RS. 60 to RS. 100, depending upon the type of vehicle that is to be tested and the type of fuel it uses.

PUC Test Procedure:

If the vehicle that is being tested uses diesel as fuel, then it is tested by fully pressing the accelerator and jotting down that reading of pollution levels in the emission. The same process is done five times, and the average of it all is the final reading of the test.

In the case of petrol vehicles, the accelerator is not pressed while the car is kept idling. In this kind of test, only a single reading is taken, and no average is calculated. There is one reading which is the final one.

Importance of PUC Certificate:

A lot of important information is carried in a PUC certificate which makes it a document one should carry at all times. The information is as follows:-

• The serial number is provided on the issued certificate.
• The license plate number of the vehicle.
• The date when the last PUC test was conducted.
• The date on which the PUC certificate expires.
• The readings were obtained during the last PUC test.

A PUC certificate is a kind of document that is mandatory to be carried at all times when we are driving the vehicle. When someone on the road is asked about this certificate by the traffic official, and he/ she is not able to hand it over to them, then that person has to bear penalties. We should also take utmost care to renew the certificate as soon as it expires, as any kind of delay may lead to us bearing fines.

In a case when a vehicle doesn't carry a true and valid PUC certificate, then it is laid for prosecution under section 190(2) according to the Motor Vehicles. The driver of the vehicle has to give a penalty of around RS. 1000 when the offence is done for the first time and made every subsequent time; the penalty becomes 2000 if the offence is repeated.

If you have a current PUC certificate but your automobile is still clearly polluting the environment, the certificate for your car will be revoked, and you will have one week to obtain a new certificate.

PUC Certification and Car Insurance Renewal:

• In the winter, while 2017 was approaching its end, the ideas that were suggested by the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority were approved by the Supreme Court. It had its prime focus on the reduction and removal of air pollution in the country.
• The decision made by the Supreme Court Bench with Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Madan B Lokur stated that from now onwards, it would be necessary for an individual to attach or link the PUC Certificate with the car insurance policy to claim the insurance renewal.
• The bench mentioned that the insurance coverage would not be allowed to be extended for vehicles which do not conform to these rules.

• The reports show a shocking result; that is, on a national level, very few people follow the rules issued by the government related to the PUC certification programme. This is the reason why this decision was an important step by the Supreme Court.
• It was found out that only around 23% of the total population got their automobiles timely tested for PUC certificate updates.

Some of The Highlights of The Supreme Court Directives:

PUC centres are allowed in every fuel station

Even though some recommendations have been set forth suggesting reducing some of the PUC testing centres in areas Delhi/ NCR as too many such centres are difficult to supervise. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), however, disagrees with this recommendation. MoRTH has put forth the argument in front of the court that the ideal situation is one where every fuel station has its PUC testing centre. With the condition that each station is empanelled and displayed on the MoRTH website, the court has approved this proposal with a condition. The government should conduct frequent compliance audits of these stations, as further stated by the court.

An automatic online network to be set up for linking PUC data centres

The PUC test fees must now be paid in advance thanks to the Supreme Court's acceptance of the recommendation to link PUC data centres automatically. The audit of PUC centres is part of a very firm and strict licensing system that will also be in place. With the help of these changes, all necessary tests will be carried out, and their results will be documented.

Recommendations on PUC norms improvement for pre-BSIV vehicles

It has been suggested that the PUC regulations for the vehicles that are made before the Bharat Stage IV emission standard will be made more strict, that driving emission testing be implemented for these vehicles, and that a diagnostic system is included. The Road Transport Ministry has challenged these recommendations, and they will be heard later.

To sum it all up, the directives by the Supreme Court provide a lot of help in performing the PUC testing, and it boosts the whole system. This has been regarded as the first step towards fighting the biggest foe of mankind, air pollution. It has helped to reduce pollution across the country and not just in the capital cities.

Conclusion

In India, drivers must also have a PUC certificate in addition to a license and the insurance of their vehicle. A fine may be assessed for failure to get this certificate under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules of 1989. To receive this certification, it is strongly advised that the vehicle pass the pollution under control test and be renewed before it expires. By receiving this certification right away, you may protect yourself from sanctions and the environment from pollutants.

Last but not least, if you already have your PUC Certificate, you can get your bike or car certification online through Parivahan, the website that is launched by the central government f India. One can sit on the website and fill out the form here with the adequate chassis number and registration number of your car. When a person does that, there is a security code that is displayed on the screen after that. Then, after choosing "PUC information", one can download it to have it as a soft copy of the document after the page loads and displays all the test reading details. One should not forget the option of downloading an e-copy of the certificate only if the emission test has been performed earlier.