Good news for car & bike owners: PUCC validity may triple to 3 years for BS-VI vehicles

The Indian government has proposed to extend the validity of the Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) to three years instead of the current one year in an attempt to ease the burden on the owners. The proposal has been made for private vehicles, which are up to six years old and compliant with BS-VI emission norms. The proposal, issued through a draft notification, aims to reduce the frequency of PUCC renewals for newer and cleaner vehicles in the country.

According to the draft notification, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has said that BS-VI vehicles aged up to six years will have to renew the PUCC every three years. Vehicles aged between six and 10 years will be required to renew their PUCC every year. Vehicles aged more than 10 years will be required to renew their PUCC every six months.

Proposed PUCC rule by MoRTH
Type	Vehicle age	PUCC validity
BS-VI non-transport	Up to 6 years	3 years
BS-VI non-transport	6-10 years	1 year
BS-VI non-transport	Over 10 years	6 months
BS-IV	-	6 months
BS-I, BS-II, BS-III	-	3 months
BS-VI transport	Up to 6 years	2 years
BS-VI transport	6-10 years	1 year
BS-VI transport	Over 10 years	6 months

The draft notification also stated that while all motor vehicles complying with BS-IV emission norms will have to renew their PUCC every six months, all motor vehicles complying with BS-I, BS-II and BS-III emission norms will have to renew their PUCC every three months.

Under the draft rules, BS-VI non-transport and transport vehicles will have different PUCC validity periods based on their age from the date of first registration. For BS-VI transport vehicles, the proposed validity will be two years for vehicles up to six years old, one year for vehicles between six and 10 years old, and six months for vehicles older than 10 years. The proposal retains shorter PUCC validity periods for older vehicles complying with BS-I, BS-II, BS-III, and BS-IV emission standards.

Renewal rules

The draft notification also explained how the revised validity periods will be implemented for the vehicles. The new validity will be applicable to PUCCs issued before the amended rules come into force only when they are renewed for the first time after the new rules are effective. Also, if a PUCC is renewed within 10 days before its expiry, the renewed certificate will become effective from the existing certificate's expiry date. If it is renewed after the certificate has expired, the renewed PUCC will take effect from the date of renewal.

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