New Delhi: The transport department plans to link cameras at petrol pumps with govt’s Vahan portal to check that vehicles have valid pollution under control (PUCC) certificates and ensure polluting ones are fined.
Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC) has floated a tender and invited bidders to suggest digital solutions for the initiative. The pre-bidding meeting is on April 4. The estimated cost of the project is USD 6 crore. The first phase will be implemented in 500 of the 900-odd petrol pumps in Delhi.
The new system will be able to verify the validity of PUCC by cross-referencing details of the vehicle’s registration certificate with the database it will have access to.
“When a vehicle enters the pump, the digital solution will scan its licence plate. The system will use the camera installed at the petrol pump and link it with Vahan portal to check PUCC and challan accordingly,” said a senior Delhi govt official.
Explaining the challan process, the official said, “If a vehicle is detected with an expired PUCC, the vehicle owner may be apprised to get it renewed. The person can get the information through a screen installed at the petrol pump.”
The system will check the PUCC status again after three hours and in case it still shows ‘expired’, a challan will be generated on Parivahan website, he added.
If a petrol pump does not have a camera, the selected firm will bear the responsibility of installing a camera at its own expense. In case a camera upgrade is required, it will also be the firm’s responsibility, the official said.
“The bidder is mandated to ensure that the system records data on the number of vehicles checked, categorising them as compliant or non-compliant. This information will be displayed on a dashboard managed by the project-in-charge,” state the documents prepared by DTIDC for the project.
Currently, the department is imposing fines at some pumps on a pilot basis, but this is not linked to any govt portal.
PUCC is a document that testifies that a vehicle complies with emission standards and its emission level is within prescribed limits. A vehicle plying without one can be fined USD 10,000.
Through the initiative, the transport dept aims to add teeth to measures against PUCC violations. Delhi has over 79 lakh registered vehicles – 20 lakh are cars while 52 lakh are two-wheelers — of which 20% do not have a PUCC, according to transport department estimates. More than 85% of the vehicles running without a PUCC are two-wheelers.
As per MV Act, vehicle owners can face imprisonment of up to six months or a fine of up to USD 10,000 or both if caught without a valid PUCC.
