Just like your car or bike insurance policy document, PUC (Pollution Under Control) certificate is another very important paper you should have in your vehicle at all times. You need to get a PUC certificate and renew it regularly in order to legally ride/drive your vehicle on Indian roads. If you are caught without a valid PUC certificate for your car or bike, then you could have to pay fines up to Rs. 10,000 and/or even face jail time of up to 3 months.
Despite this legal mandate and the repercussions of not abiding by it, many motorists still ply they’re without a valid PUC certificate. You would think that cost could be a major reason behind this – people are not getting their PUC done because they cannot afford to do so! However, this is not true – getting your PUC will cost you less than Rs. 100! Even with such a nominal fee several individuals fail to meet their PUC requirements.
What can be done to change this?
PUC is carried out to ensure motorists are in compliance with the air pollution norms in place. However, if everyone does not keep their PUC up to date, we could have a lot of vehicles that are not within the pollution norms. This could lead to deteriorating air quality levels.
Keeping this in mind, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has passed a mandate via a circular issued in August of 2020 stating that one cannot buy or renew bike or car insurance without a valid PUC certificate. Along with this, the circular also states that damages will not be covered if the car does not have a valid PUC certificate when the accident occurs.
What does this do for PUC?
If you do not have PUC, when you cannot buy or renew your car/bike insurance plan. If you get caught riding or driving without a PUC and a valid motor insurance policy, the combined fines could set you back as much as Rs. 12,000 – even more if you are caught a subsequent time. Not only that, in case of an accident, you might have to pay the fines and also cover substantial repair costs. In case you injure or damage someone else’s property as well, then you will have to provide compensate out of your pocket!
All this highlights the importance of having a good bike/car insurance plan. Without it, the perils of the road could bring you a huge financial setback. And, in order to get insurance coverage, you now need to have a valid PUC certificate. It’s a move that will hopefully increase compliance with road regulation to make our roads safer and less polluted as well. Remember, the cost of PUC and motor insurance is very nominal as compared to the fines & potential expenses of not having these two important documents.
We hope this has been helpful for you, good luck and remember to ride/drive safely!