Vehicle regulations in Uttar Pradesh have been tightened starting Wednesday. Now, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates will not be issued for vehicles that lack a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP). Consequently, these vehicles face the looming threat of fines amounting to up to ₹10,000.
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In Uttar Pradesh, the threat of a ₹10,000 fine now looms over 22.2 million owners of two-wheelers and cars. Starting today—Wednesday—these vehicles, which have not been fitted with High Security Registration Plates (HSRP), will no longer be issued Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. Consequently, owners will now find relief only after getting these high-security number plates installed. This applies to vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles prior to April 1, 2019.
There is a provision for a fine of ₹5,000 for vehicles not fitted with High Security Number Plates; now, the non-issuance of pollution certificates will create a double predicament for these vehicle owners. As of March 31, 2019, the total number of commercial and private vehicles registered in UP stands at 3.12 crore. Of these, High Security Number Plates have been installed on only 90.90 lakh vehicles so far—meaning that only 29.05 percent of the vehicles currently bear these number plates.
The Transport Department has issued multiple letters warning vehicle owners to install High Security Registration Plates (HSRP), yet they have failed to do so. Since April 1, 2019, all new vehicles have been mandatorily equipped with these number plates at the time of sale. Consequently, these plates must now be affixed to vehicles registered prior to that date. To date, 70 percent of vehicle owners have not yet installed the High Security Registration Plates. As a result, these vehicles will now come under scrutiny starting this Wednesday.
Effective Wednesday, Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates will no longer be issued to vehicles that have not been fitted with an HSRP. Until now, PUC certificates were being issued to these older vehicles—registered prior to April 1, 2019—even with standard number plates. However, acting on directives from the Central Government, strict instructions have now been issued to enforce this regulation rigorously.
Owners of Private Vehicles Are the Most Negligent
In UP, the number of commercial vehicles registered prior to April 1, 2019, stands at 17.20 lakh; of these, 6.05 lakh have been fitted with High Security Number Plates—meaning that 35 percent of commercial vehicles now bear these plates. Similarly, there are 2.95 crore private vehicles, of which 84.84 lakh have been fitted with these plates. Thus, only 28.6 percent of private vehicles currently bear them. Furthermore, when considering two-wheelers and four-wheelers specifically, these percentages stand at 27.88 percent and 58.47 percent, respectively. There are 2.38 crore two-wheelers in UP; of these, only 66.46 lakh have been fitted with these number plates. Likewise, the total number of four-wheelers is 29.11 lakh, and High Security Number Plates have been installed on 17.02 lakh of these vehicles.
