The state government has significantly reduced the rate of penalty imposed on vehicles for violations of noise and air pollution norms.
The first-time offence in this regard that attracted a penalty of Rs 10,000 has been slashed down to Rs 2000, catering to the demand of the transport operators.
According to sources in the Transport department, if it is found that a vehicle with a valid pollution certificate fails in pollution norms during checking, a communication is sent to the concerned vehicle owner allowing him/ her seven days time to have the vehicle’s pollution check from another testing centre. If he/she fails to produce an ‘OK’ certificate from such a centre, then the fine imposed was Rs 10000. The transport operators citing penalties imposed in certain states like Maharashtra for the same offence prayed for reducing the penalty to Rs 2000.
“The Transport department has been sympathetic to our demand from the very beginning and had sent the same for approval to the state Finance department.
Now, after receiving the approval, the penalty has been reduced to Rs 2000,” said Titu Saha of City Suburban Bus Service. Saha added that the difference in technology in the pollution testing machines resulted in such a mismatch in pollution certificates.
According to a notification issued by the Transport department on this matter, if a vehicle is found to commit the second offence in this regard, the penalty imposed will be Rs 5000 and in the case of the third offence, the same will be Rs 10000. However, in all three offences on this issue, the vehicle owner will have a seven-day window to produce a fit certificate from a PUC (pollution under control) centre.
“Earlier, there were some PUC centres that issued fit certificates without physical examination of vehicles. Now, we have made the vehicle presence mandatory at the PUC centres through changing of software,” said Snehasis Chakraborty, state Transport minister.
Article Credit: millenniumpost