NEW DELHI: With vehicular pollution checking centres in the national capital on strike, the registration and renewal of the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates has witnessed a staggering drop of 86%. As per the data from the e-Vahan portal of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, between July 1 and 14, more than 12,600 vehicles were checked for the PUC. However, the figure dropped to a little over 1,700 since the strike was announced (between July 15 and 19).Around 600 PUC centres at different petrol pumps have joined the strike by the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) following the hike in PUC checking rates which the association called inadequate to operate centres. It also said citizens are suffering due to city government’s arrogance. “We understand the trouble faced by the public; that is why we requested transport minister Kailash Gahlot to convene a meeting to revise the rates offered for PUC certification in Delhi, so that the general public is not inconvenienced. However, he does not have time for us,” said DPDA secretary Bibek Banerjee.“We have been suffering losses to our income for the last 13 years. Our revenues have drastically declined and expenses to operate PUC centers have increased many folds. We have been requesting the Delhi government for years to enhance the price of pollution checking to recover our costs. However, the government announced an arbitrary and miniscule enhancement without consultating the stakeholders, which did not address the losses sufficiently, thereby continuing the situation of PUC centres being unviable,” Banerjee asserted.
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