Around 600 PUC centres shut in Delhi amid protest by petrol dealers over fee hike

NEW DELHI: Several people visiting PUC centres at petrol pumps for pollution certificates for their vehicles had to return empty-handed as around 600 such centres across 400 petrol pumps here were closed on Monday as part of a strike called by petrol dealers and pump owners to voice dissatisfaction with the Delhi government's proposed hike in the pollution-certificate charges.

However, transport department officials said the strike did not have much of an impact.

"There are around 945 pollution under control centres (PUCCs) in Delhi, including around 600 at petrol pumps. The remaining centres were functional, so it was not a 100-per cent closure," an official said.

Another official said around 3.5 lakh PUC certificates are issued in Delhi every month, which means around 3,000 to 3,500 such certificates are issued on a daily basis.

The Delhi government on Thursday increased the PUC-certificate charges for petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles after a gap of about 13 years. The hike ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 40.

The new rates will be effective as soon as they are notified by the city government, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said.

The closure call of PUCCs by the Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association (DPDA) came following the Delhi government's proposed hike in the pollution-certificate charges.

DPDA president Nischal Singhania told PTI that the association has decided to go ahead with the strike as running the PUCCs has become unviable.

"There are 400 petrol pumps in Delhi and all of those have petrol PUC centres. Some of those also have diesel PUC centres, taking the count of such centres to around 600," he said.

Singhania added that the operational costs have gone up and the hike is only 35 per cent.

In a statement on Sunday, the DPDA said the PUCC rates were last revised in 2011 after a gap of six years and the percentage increase then was more than 70.

"The rate hike announced by the Delhi government now after 13 years is merely 35 per cent, whereas all our expenses in the operation of a PUC centre have increased multiple times, with just the wages having increased three times from 2011 to 2024," the statement said.

All India Motor and Goods Transport Association president Rajendra Kapoor said the strike did not have much of an impact on them.

"We have commercial vehicles that ply across the NCR. Even if PUC centres are shut in Delhi, we have the option of getting the certificates renewed from Gurugram and Noida, where this problem does not exist," he said.

Sneha Kapoor went to three-four petrol pumps in her area but found the PUC centres closed.

"My car's pollution certificate has expired and I have a fear that I will be challaned. It is a tough situation for me as I work late nights and cannot even use public transport for commuting," she said.