Dear (s)
As you drive on
road, sometimes vehicles whizz past leaving a trail of black thick smoke and
others blame the vehicle for polluting the road. Pollution is everyone’s concern. One of the impact of Covid imposed lockdown
was – lesser no. of vehicles on road, and hence lesser emission of CO2 and
other chemicals – people in cities too were breathing easy and good air at
that.
In the Insuring
Sector, there is some buzz as Insurers from 15.9.2020 have started insisting on
a declaration that the vehicle carries valid PUC ! [Pollution under Control
Certificate]- or else there would be no insurance coverage. All Motor
Proposal forms and Cover notes and all digital formats of all Insurers contain
the PUC declaration now. Like
the license agreements on Computers, which will not allow us to proceed without
marking Agree / yes to the said terms – proposer will have to say yes, lest it
will not proceed further.
This mandatory
declaration of having valid PUC would become applicable for renewals / roll overs, applicable for all
classes of vehicles including Two wheelers. Interestingly this would be
applicable for Third Party policies as well.
Given our tendency to say yes for proceeding, what will happen, if
someone misdeclares Yes (when PUC is not available) is not answered now.
These instructions
refer back to IRDA Circular No
IRDA/NL/MISC/104/07/2018 (yes 2018) regarding
mandatory capturing of the PUC (Pollution Under Control) declaration in Motor
Proposals. The IRDA circular of July
2018 takes reference to Supreme Court
order of 10.8.2017 Writ petition 13029/1985 in MC Mehta Vs Union of India
wherein the Hon’ble court directed the Insurers not to insure vehicle unless it
has a valid PUC certificate on the renewal of Insurance Policy. IRDA had directed compliance of the
instructions.
Now here is something on
why it was necessitated : With the
impending danger of global warming and to effectively reduce the amount of
pollution in the air, the Government of India mandated that every vehicle - commercial and
private - has a pollution under control (PUC) certificate. The pollution under
control (PUC) certificate is one which shows whether the vehicle is under the
prescribed standards with regard to emissions. Apart from this, the PUC
certificate has been made mandatory as per the Central Motor Vehicle Rule,
1989. Only if the emissions from the vehicle are below the prescribed norms
which are deemed as legal, will the vehicle owner be allowed to use the vehicle
on the roads of India. The emission test which checks the carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbon levels of the emitted fumes can be carried out at any petrol bunk
that is certified to carry out the test.
• The certificate’s serial number
• The registration number of the vehicle
• The date of PUC testing
• The PUC certificates date of expiry
• The PUC readings from the test
As per the Motor Vehicle
Act, like a motor insurance policy, registration certificate, and driving
license, a PUC certificate is now mandatory to carry while driving.
With the rapid increase in
the number of vehicles, the problem of automobile pollution has assumed greater
significance. Since the emission of smoke from motor vehicles is a major source
of air pollution, specific standards for the permissible limits for such
emission have been prescribed in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and Central Motor
Vehicles Rules 1989. All vehicles which are in operation for more than a year
should undergo emission tests every six months.
The Government has
authorized 248 Private Emission Testing Centers throughout Tamil Nadu as per
rule 116(B) of Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules 1989 and has made it mandatory
that at the time of every transaction with Regional Transport Offices,
certificate of Pollution Under Control will be checked.
Having a PUC Certificate
is required by the Government of India by the Motor Vehicle Act of 1988. If
your vehicle does not have a valid certificate, you will be liable for a Rs
1000 fine (and it’s Rs. 2000 for every subsequent offense!)
Moving away in social
media (including many WA groups) there
was some panic based on a viral claim that if PUC is not valid, Insurers will
not settle OD claim in the Policy. While IRDA
in their 2018 categorically directed Insurance Companies to comply with the
direction of Honble Supreme Court – it also clarified on 26.8.2020 by a
statement in their Web that - the
reports in media was misleading and clarified that not
holding a valid PUC certificate is not a valid reason for denying any claim
under a motor insurance policy.
Hope my
understanding is right and is of some help to Underwriters in getting clarity
on the circular and on what they need to do on this.
In case someone
is interested in reading further – here is a gist of Supreme Court order of
10.8.2017.. .. .. This was a writ petition
filed by MC Mehta against Union of India and was represented by high profile
counsel Harish N Salve for the petitioner among others. In their affidavit the Ministry brought out a
chart of the recommendations which included exploring the Petrol stations on
how they are equipped to explore the PUC and furnish certificate after
servicing a vehicle. Honble Court further directed ensuring linkage of renewal
of insurance with availability of PUC.
The instruction that Insurers should not provide insurance coverage to a
vehicle unless it has a valid PUC certificate. Ministry of Road Transport expressed the view
that linkage of PUC centres with VAHAN database and other enforcement measures,
compliance of PUC by motor vehicle owners will improve considerably. (Only
insurance related portion reproduced)
16.9.2020.
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