Petrol Dealers' Body Flags Hurdles In Fuel Sales Ban Linked To Emission Norms

Petrol dealers' body DPDA has flagged several challenges in implementing the Delhi government's order barring fuel sell to vehicles without valid emission check certificates.

Vehicles without a valid pollution under control certificate (PUCC) will not be provided fuel at petrol pumps in the national capital from Thursday, as the Delhi government's stringent 'no PUCC, no fuel' rule and a ban on the entry of all private non-Delhi vehicles below BS VI standards come into effect.

The Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association (DPDA), in a representation to environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, said it extends 'whole-hearted support' to all measures taken by the Delhi government aimed at combatting the severe air pollution.

However, it said that while 'extraordinary steps are indeed necessary”, the effective enforcement of the directive remains 'an extremely difficult and arduous task' unless key concerns are addressed.

The association said Delhi's residents are suffering more from transboundary pollution than from sources within the city limits and that 'measures confined solely to the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi are unlikely to yield the desired results unless uniformly implemented across the entire National Capital Region (NCR).

It pointed out that refusal of an essential commodity by any retail outlet is covered under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel (Regulation of Supply, Distribution and Prevention of Malpractices) Order, 1998, and said the 'refusal of sale has to be decriminalised by the relevant authority' for petrol pumps to effectively carry out the directive.

DPDA said that petrol pumps are not an enforcement agency, and the implementation of the 'No PUCC, No Fuel' rule 'has to be done by the competent authorities vested with statutory powers'.

It added that petrol pump staff are 'never looked upon by the customers as an enforcing authority' and that denial of fuel could lead to 'law-and-order disturbances'.

The association also sought that 'penal actions against petrol pump dealers should be avoided', stating they are 'helping the government in implementing the order.

Among other concerns, the DPDA said the emission checking system is 'obsolete and needs to be upgraded' and that there is 'no dashboard/live feed provided along with the ANPR cameras installed at the retail outlets”.

It said a true trial run has 'never been established', and that the previous trial run had yielded 'a lot of junk data being transmitted into the petrol pumps leading to the failure of the drive'.

The association requested that the issues be resolved for the successful implementation of the directive.