The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) recently came up with a new circular to the insurance providers and mandating the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate for every vehicle which comes for the renewal of the policy. PUC is basically a certificate which ensures that the vehicle is emitting pollutants within the acceptable range and also meets the pollution control standards of the government. PUC certificate can be issued after 1 year of the vehicle’s registration and it is issued only after examining the emission capacity of the vehicle. This helps in deterring the people from running those categorized vehicles.
PUC mostly acts as a vet for the pollution control standards and there are various pollution standards/ emission levels set for every motor vehicle running in India and if the vehicle undergoes the test successfully then the certificate is given to vehicle owner for a specific period of time which has to be renewed periodically. This helps in limiting the pollution caused in the environment.
Before the circular, the Supreme Court had authorized the Insurance Companies to not renew the insurance policies of those who are not having a valid PUC certificate of their vehicle and made it mandatory to have one for renewal purposes in the case of M.C Mehta v. Union of India and laid down the above principles. Now, the IRDAI has issued a circular to all the general insurance companies certifying that the direction given by the Supreme Court of India has to be followed meticulously word by word with special attention on compliance in the Delhi-NCR.
The circular was addressed to all the CEOs and CMDs of general Insurance Companies and it was marked by the regulatory body, “Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has raised concerns regarding the status of compliance of above direction of Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Delhi-NCR. Please ensure that the direction of the Supreme Court of India is followed scrupulously with a special focus on compliance in the National Capital Region of Delhi (Delhi-NCR).” Thus, PUC will now add to the layer of renewal of insurance policies which might get a bit complicated but is essential for a sustainable environment so as to maintain the prescribed pollution standards.
PUC is one of the crucial documents required after purchase of any vehicle and as per the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, any person driving any motor vehicle in a public place can be asked to produce the following documents by a police officer wearing uniform authorized by the State Government:
- Certificate of Insurance
- Certificate of Registration
- Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC)
- Driving License
- In case of transport vehicle, Certificate of Fitness u/s 56 and the permit
- Any certificate or authorization of exemption granted under this Act regarding the use of the vehicle.
In short, PUC is pretty essential to run your vehicle in public places and even for insurance too.
