3,446 challans to vehicle pollution violators from November 1-17

New Delhi: Amid deteriorated air quality in the city, the Delhi Transport department has intensified the enforcement drive to penalise the vehicle owners without a valid PUC certificate, issuing nearly 3,500 challans worth over Rs 3.5 crore from November 1-17.

In October, the enforcement wing teams of the department checked 8,25,681 vehicles and issued 9,522 challans worth more than Rs 9.5 crore. Also, over 8 lakh Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates were issued in the month, official data showed.

In accordance with the Motor Vehicle Act, 1993, vehicle owners who fail to get a valid PUCC are liable to be challaned under Section 190(2), leading

to imprisonment of up to six months or fine up to Rs 10,000, or both. The driver could also lose their driving licence for three months.

According to official figures of the Transport department, there were nearly 17.71 lakh vehicles running without valid PUC in the city by mid October. There are total 1.34 crore registered vehicles in Delhi.

Most of the vehicles without PUC certificate included two-wheelers(13 lakh approx) while 4.20 lakh four-wheelers were without the valid certificate according to the Transport department database. The enforcement teams issued 3,446 challans for non-compliance of valid PUC of vehicles till November 17. More than 3.34 lakh PUC certificates were also issued during this period in November, figures showed.