Imagine you buy an electric vehicle thinking that you are a responsible citizen doing your part in reducing tailpipe emissions. However, just when you check your post box, you get a challan for Rs 10,000 for violating air pollution standards. You'd be shocked, right? Well, this is exactly what recently happened with a Tata Curvv.ev owner from Punjab. Recently, an image has been shared online in which this particular Tata Curvv.ev owner has been fined for not having a PUC (Pollution Under Control) certificate.
This post, in which this unique issue has been mentioned, has been shared on X by Rattan Dhillon on their page. In this image, we can see a white-colored Tata Curvv.ev with registration number “PB 42 E 7132” has been fined for two different traffic rules violations. The first is for driving faster/slower than speed limits. As for the fine, it is Rs 2,000, which is a standard fine.
However, the one that has made the owner, as well as everyone else, curious is the second fine, which is for violating air pollution standards. As for the amount, it is Rs 10,000. This particular fine has been levied by the Traffic Police Department of Haryana, and currently it is getting scrutinized by netizens who have seen this post online.
A number of netizens have mentioned that this is absolutely wrong and it seems like daylight robbery. One of the netizens commented, “India needs a system to sue government authorities for scamming citizens in the guise of law enforcement. This crime is rampant in India.” Meanwhile, another user stated, “The green-colored HSRP was clearly visible, yet they were quick to issue a challan for a pollution standard violation. Perhaps they now have some mechanism to check whether EVs are also generating pollution.”
Soon after this post became viral on X, the Gurugram Traffic Police’s official page commented on it. It stated, “Kindly share your contact details by DM, please.” Now, whether the traffic police department will remove the fine or cancel it has not been confirmed.
The simple answer to this question is no. EVs cannot be fined for violating air pollution standards, as they do not emit any tailpipe gases. Also, under MoRTH (Ministry of Road Transport and Highways) rules, electric vehicles are not granted any PUC certificate and hence cannot be fined for not having one. Only internal combustion–engined vehicles, including petrol, diesel, and CNG, require a PUC certificate.
From what seems to be the case, this particular challan for violation of air pollution standards could have been generated by mistake. There is a possibility that the automated challan system made an error and was not flagged down by any enforcement staff. Hence, it is an administrative error rather than a legal interpretation error.
This is not the first time that we have seen an electric vehicle getting fined by the police authorities for not having a valid PUC. Back in 2022, an Ather electric scooter owner was fined Rs 250 under Section 213(5)(e) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The owner was fined for “Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) not produced on demand.”