BHUBANESWAR: In spite of public outcry over inadequate number of pollution under control (PUC) centres to get certificates for their vehicles, only 60 PUC outlets out of total 177 have registered with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) till September 5.

Of these, 16 registered online on September 4 and 5 while the last date for registration was August 31.

“In Cuttack and Khurda districts, 21 PUC centres registered online till September 5. Other PUC counters have also initiated the process and we are providing them necessary assistance,” said an RTO official.

Delay in online registration by PUC centres led to a chaos after implementation of amended rules under Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019. This is because any vehicle not having PUC certificate attracts a fine of Rs 10,000 under the amended rules. It is 10 times of the older fine.

There was a delay in registration even after the State Transport Authority (STA) had categorically asked RTOs to direct the authorised PUC test centres to register with Parivahan Sewa under MoRTH before September 1.

Laxity on the part of PUCs led to long queues at the pollution testing centres with auto-rickshaws queuing up ahead of others. 

Considering the chaos at the PUCs, the state government on September 6 decided to relax penalty for air and noise pollution under the Amendment Act and directed the Regional Transport Officers (RTO) to ask the PUC centres to register online.