The National Informatics Centre (NIC) has begun work to link the emission-related data of 1.44 crore motor vehicles registered in the State with the Transport Mission mode project’s pan-India application VAHAN for vehicle registration.
Once the linkage is provided, the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate will be provided to the motorists only through the server of the Motor Vehicles Department after the emission data are provided from the 550-odd testing stations.
“We hope to complete the trials by the NIC soon as porting of the vehicles registered in the State had been completed by the MVD. We have sought more customisation of the software being used by NIC. The aim is to begin issuing PUC certificates online in October for all classes of motor vehicles registered in the State reaching the testing centres,” Joint Transport Commissioner Rajeev Puthalath told The Hindu .
With this, the MVD will be able to monitor the emission testing being carried out by the testing centres, check the use of pirated software, check automobile pollution, and curb the complaints of issuing certificate without carrying out testing as per the approved norms as a uniform certificate is to be provided.
SMS alert
For the motorists, the MVD is planning to issue an SMS alert at the registered mobile number of the vehicle owner well before the expiry of the PUC so that it can be renewed from the testing centre. The PUC certificate will also be uniform in appearance. “States such as Delhi and Tamil Nadu has started issuing online PUC certificate, but we are trying for more customisation,” he said.
The enforcers will also find it easy for providing various services to the motorists as the emission norms will be available in VAHAN. The Joint Transport Commissioner said testing centres using old machines for detecting the emission level needed an upgrade..
With the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the motorists have to face revised penalties for driving vehicles violating air pollution standards. As per the Act, the information should be made available in electronic form on m-Parivahan and e-Challan platforms. The switch-over is also based on the Supreme Court directive. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had amended Rule 115 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, to enable the linkage.
