Not happy with the increased rates after 13 years, all PUC centres will be closed in Delhi from tomorrow
The Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) has announced that all Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) centers at their retail outlets in Delhi will be closed from July 15, 2024. The association says that in 2011 these rates were increased by more than 70 percent. Whereas after 13 years, the increase rate announced by the Delhi government is only 35 percent.
New Delhi: Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) has announced that all Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUC) centers in Delhi will be closed from July 15. The reason for this is the continuous increase in the operating cost of these centers and the PUC certification rates have not been revised since 2011. DPDA says that since 2011, there has been no increase in PUC rates, due to which it is not economically viable to operate. DPDA says that for the last 8 years, efforts have been made to draw attention to this issue by writing letters to the Transport Department and the Transport Minister of Delhi, but the situation has not improved.
The increased rates are insufficient
The association says that in 2011 these rates were increased by more than 70 percent. Whereas after 13 years, the increase rate announced by the Delhi government is only 35 percent. During this time, the cost of operations has increased manifold, which includes a 3-fold increase in salaries. Apart from this, oil marketing companies are charging rent up to 10-15 percent of the total revenue from PUC centers, which was not the case earlier.
'It has become impossible to run PUC centres'
The cost has also come down for the customers. In 2011, PUC certification was quarterly, but now it has become annual for BS-4 and above vehicles. This has reduced the annual cost of the customers by 75%. In such a situation, it has become impossible to operate PUC centers and many PUC centers have surrendered their licenses in the last few months. The managing committee of DPDA has therefore decided that all PUC centers at its retail outlets in Delhi will be closed from July 15, 2024.