There are 332 Private Emission Testing Centres throughout Tamil Nadu and 63 in Chennai, said an official from the State Transport Authority (STA). 

A Suresh* has been using his Tata Indica for almost 20 years. During this period, he should have renewed his Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) 38 times but, he renewed it only six times after the first year from the purchase date.  

“I was very particular in the beginning but then I got lazy,” he says. “Besides, it is not as if there is any supervision by the authorities that pushed me to go to one of the centres and get the check done. When I went to get the fitness certificate for my vehicle after 15 years, the RTO inspector insisted that I get an emission test done before giving the fitness certificate, but otherwise, I have not felt the need to do it.”

The emission of smoke from motor vehicles is a source of air pollution. Specific standards for the permissible limits for such emission have been prescribed in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989. As per the norms, all vehicles which are in operation for more than a year should undergo emission tests every six months. However, like Suresh, there are a number of vehicle owners who do not adhere to the rules.

There are 332 Private Emission Testing Centres throughout Tamil Nadu and 63 in Chennai, said an official from the State Transport Authority (STA).  As per rule 116 (B) of Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, it is mandatory that at the time of every transaction with Regional Transport Offices, the certificate of Pollution Under Control should be checked. In practice, many stakeholders said this was not followed rigidly....Read more

Source web page: New indian express