Fuel pump owners in Delhi said PUC (Pollution Under Control) centres will be shut from Monday, July 15, onwards, over their displeasure regarding the recent proposed hike in rates of pollution certificates by the government.

The Delhi government, after a gap of 13 years, hiked PUC certificate rates last week for four-wheelers, two and three-wheelers. The hike ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 40, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said, adding that the new rates will be effective as soon as it is notified by the Delhi government, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had said.

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Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association (DPDA) said that the hike is merely 35 per cent whereas all their "expenses in the operation of a PUC centre have increased multiple times with just the wages having increased three times from 2011 to 2024."

DPDA said various operational costs of the PUC centre have drastically increased over the last 13 years, adding that the expense to the customer earlier was four times the current cost as the frequency of PUC certification was once a quarter, which has now come down to once a year due to changes in certification norms for BS-IV and above vehicles. "This also has led to a reduction of revenue by 75 per cent," news agency PTI quoted DPDA.

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In a statement issued, DPDA said, "Since the operation of PUC centres is unviable, many PUC centres have surrendered their licenses in the last few months. The managing committee of the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association has thus resolved to close PUC centres at their retail outlets across Delhi from July 15 in light of arbitrary and grossly insufficient hike in PUC certification rates, which will not in any way mitigate the losses of the dealers in operating the PUC centres," the statement said.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association, after eight years of writing letters to the transport department and the transport minister had earlier called for a closure of the PUC centres from July 1 due to its unviability, it said.

The association said PUC rates were last revised in 2011 after a gap of six years and the percentage increase then was more than 70 per cent.

"While we were trying to convince our dealers to agree on the 75 per cent hike in pollution checking rates, we were informed by the press of a hike of Rs. 20, Rs. 30 and Rs. 40 in the above mentioned segments, which is merely a 35 per cent average hike. We have also come to know that there is no basis or justification for the calculation, and the figure is arrived at arbitrarily," the statement said.