Electric scooter owner fined for no pollution certificate in bizarre incident

The electric scooter and the challan issued to its owner. (Image credit: @AArun_1998/Twitter)

The owner of an electric scooter in Kerala has been fined for not having a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate. The incident is bizarre because electric vehicles (EV) do not require a PUC.

The incident happened in Malappuram district of Kerala where the owner of an Ather 450X electric scooter in India was fined Rs 250 for not producing the PUC certificate “on demand” News 18 reported.

The electric scooter owner shared the challan on social media which mentioned that it was issued under Section 213(5)(e) of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988. Interestingly, as per the laws charted out by the central government, there is no provision for the requirement of PUC certificate for EVs.

Sept 6th, #Kerala#trafficpolice issued challan to an #Electric scooter owner for not having a pollution certificate pic.twitter.com/UMXX4nySJt

— Agorl Ethaana (@ahorl_Eteena) September 10, 2022

Naturally, the post went viral on social media with even industrialist Anand Mahindra weighing in on it.

"And you thought the biggest challenge to going electric was charging infrastructure?" he tweeted.

Read more: Campaign #TrForTeachers gets Anand Mahindra’s support: ‘My mother was a teacher’

Former director of Infosys and current chairman of Manipal Global Education TV Mohandas Pai also commented on the incident and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to stop such "harassment".

"Electric scooter owner fined for driving without pollution certificate in Kerala, challan receipt goes viral. ⁦Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Modi Sir, we need to change our laws, and stop this harassment," Pai tweeted.

A Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate is issued to a vehicle after examining its exhaust fumes and checking the level of hazardous emissions. But, when it comes to electric vehicles, they come under the zero-emission category since the source of power is a battery and not fuel such as petrol, diesel, or gas.

Read more: World EV Day | We need to bust myths and biases towards electric vehicles