Delhi’s Transport Department plans to establish two multi-lane pollution under control (PUC) centres at the Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan interstate bus terminals as the city begins an enforcement drive ahead of the winter season, officials said.
The proposed centres will test heavy and light motor vehicles and issue PUC certificates. A tender has already been issued for both projects, according to a transport department official quoted in the report.
The facilities will be located at Delhi’s two major interstate bus terminals, making them the first PUC certification centres to be established at ISBTs, the official said. The move is intended to address gaps identified in the existing vehicle certification system, particularly for commercial vehicles and vehicles entering or operating through the capital.
“These will be dedicated multi-lane PUC centres for heavy and light motor vehicles, for testing and issuing certificates; a tender has been issued for the projects,” the official said.
The official said the department found that commercial vehicles were obtaining fitness certificates from centres using old technology, while private vehicles were receiving pollution certificates from booths located outside petrol pumps. The proposed multi-lane centres are expected to create dedicated locations where both heavy and light vehicles can undergo pollution testing and receive certification.
Delhi currently has around 900 PUC centres, most of them located at petrol stations, along with some centres in selected areas, according to the report. The new facilities would therefore add a different type of testing location to the city’s existing network rather than replace the current petrol-pump-based system.
The announcement follows Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s statement last week about a major PUC verification enforcement drive aimed at controlling air pollution in Delhi. The drive comes before the winter season, when pollution levels in the capital become a major public-health and governance concern and vehicle-emissions enforcement is intensified.
The location of the planned centres at Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan is significant for vehicle administration because both sites serve interstate bus operations and are used by large numbers of commercial vehicles. Their placement could allow the transport authorities to focus certification activity at major entry and interchange points, although the department has not announced the expected capacity, operating schedule or completion timeline for either centre.
The report also does not specify the tender value, selected contractor, testing technology to be installed or the enforcement mechanism that will connect the new centres with roadside verification. Those details are expected to become clearer as the tender process progresses.
For vehicle owners and operators, the immediate change is a planned expansion of dedicated testing infrastructure, not an announced replacement of existing PUC centres. The Transport Department’s next formal step is the implementation of the tenders for the two centres at Anand Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan.
