Delhi govt writes to city court, says over 90 pc of PUCC challans issued in 2023 pending

The Delhi government has written to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Tis Hazari court saying more than 90 per cent of the challans imposed for not having a valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) Certificate are pending, which has impacted the enforcement exercise.

In a letter on Wednesday, 17 January the Transport Department noted that nearly 75 per cent of the challans, issued during the period when the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) restrictions were in force, remain unpaid. 

"It is brought to your attention that the challan pendency status is becoming another challenge in the realm of enforcement on vehicles," read the communication. 

The letter noted "the issue needs to be taken up with the higher judiciary in order to create a system of clearance of all challans related to pollution without any reduction in penalty".

The letter cited data which showed that a total of 36,225 PUCC challans were issued last year.

Out of the over 36,000 challans, 91 per cent are pending. A fine of Rs 10,000 is imposed for not having a valid PUCC.

The department issued a total of 1,095 challans for plying of BS III petrol and BS IV diesel vehicles, in violation of GRAP restrictions, from 1 October, 2022 to 1 March, 2023. Seventy five per cent of these remain pending, according to official data.