Delhi sees 76% surge in PUC certificates ahead of 'No PUC, No Fuel' rule

The number of Pollution Under Control certificates issued in Delhi rose by nearly 76 per cent on December 17, a day before the 'No PUCC, No Fuel' rule came into force in the national capital, official data shows.

Earlier this week, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced that vehicles without a valid pollution under control (PUC) certificate will not be provided fuel at petrol pumps in the city from Thursday.

A petrol pump owner said queues outside PUC centres swelled on Wednesday as motorists rushed to obtain certificates. "People were getting the certificates issued to avoid fines," he said.

There are around 400 petrol pumps in Delhi, all of which have PUC centres.

According to official data, 31,197 PUC certificates were issued on December 17, compared to 17,732 on December 16. This marked an increase of 13,465 certificates, or a 75.9 per cent rise within 24 hours.

In the days preceding December 17, PUC issuance had remained largely stable, ranging between 16,000 and 17,700 certificates per day from December 10 to December 16. The figures stood at 17,044 certificates on December 10, 16,419 on December 11, 16,305 on December 12, 16,551 on December 13, 16,624 on December 14, and 17,719 on December 15.

Nischal Singhania, president of Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association, told PTI that while queues at PUC centres increased, sales of petrol and diesel have declined.

"We think people are heading to fuel stations in neighbouring areas of Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad for refuel. There may also be a fear psychosis at work, with people worried about being penalised for other offences due to heavy deployment of personnel," he said.

Meanwhile, official data shows that over 1.56 lakh challans were issued in the last two months to motorists for driving vehicles without valid PUC certificates.

Enforcement against vehicles without valid PUC certificates has more than tripled in the past three years, rising from 2.32 lakh in 2023 to 8.22 lakh in 2025 till December 15.

Of the total 1,56,993 challans, each carrying a fine of Rs 10,000, were issued during the GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) period this year between October 14 and December 15.

The Delhi government has also banned the entry of non-Delhi private vehicles below BS-VI standards and enforced the 'No PUC, No Fuel' rule as part of intensified measures to tackle air pollution.