Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Central Government assured the Gauhati High Court that it would tell the Assam Transport Department to upgrade its software that had been developed by NIC so that the pendency of challans issued to vehicle owners does not put any hurdles in the issuance of pollution certificates (Pollution Under Control Certificates). A notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on September 25, 2020, brought certain amendments about in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989. One such amendment provides that during the period when the challans remain pending compliance, there could be no registration of the vehicle mentioned in the challan or renewal of license of the offender.
A motor vehicle to be plied on roads require many other certifications; one important certificate being the Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC).
The contention on behalf of the petitioner is that during the pendency of the compliance of challans, even the PUCCs are not being granted.
It appears that the software developed by the NIC does not capture the PUCC certification.
Precisely for this reason, it has been clarified in the notification issued on May 9, 2024, by the Government of India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MVL section), that a PUCC certificate cannot be granted for vehicles with pending traffic fines. The states and the union territories have been requested by the Central Government to implement the updated PUCC software with version 2.0 of the NIC at the earliest, in letter and spirit.
The amended rules do not proscribe issuance of a PUCC certificate during the pendency of the challan compliance.
The State Transport Department also does not intend to do so but is not issuing PUCC for the primary reason of the deficiency in the software, within which such processes have to be complied with. The counsel for the Union of India submits that he shall liaise with a responsible functionary of the Transport Department for the upgrade of the software so that even during the pendency of the traffic challan compliance, Pollution Control Certificates are issued.
The Deputy Solicitor General of India submitted that he would take instructions and would get back to this Court on the next date.
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