The Supreme Court gave a positive signal to the recommendations raised by the (EPCA) that focussed on battling air pollution in the country. The Justice Deepak Gupta and Justice Madan B Lokur stated that it would be necessary to link the PUC Certificate with the car insurance policy of an individual for insurance renewal to be successful. The SC clearly specified that vehicles which do not conform to these rules will not be allowed to extend insurance coverage through renewal.
This was a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court, as there have been reports of poor acquiescence with the PUC certification programme on a national level. It was observed that only 24% of the vehicles in Delhi attended PUC tests.
Recommendations on PUC norms improvement for pre-BSIV vehicles – There have been recommendations on making the PUC norms more stringent for pre-BSIV vehicles, implementation of driving emission testing for these vehicles, and integration of diagnostic systems. These advices have been contested by the Road Transport ministry and has been heard at a later date.
All in all, the Supreme Court directives has improved the compliance towards the PUC testing system. This is regarded as the first step towards fighting air pollution across the nation, and is not limited to the capital.
