The Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) is gearing up to bring down air pollution from teeming vehicles plying in the road network and tighten the grip over the pollution under control (PUC) testing centres functioning in the State to ensure that the emission norms are followed.

The 574 PUC testing centres is to be linked to a central server of the MVD to ensure that the testing is done as per the norms and the certificates are not given to polluting vehicles. “We are trying to rope in the Keltron to fine-tune the proposal and to make the issual of the PUC certificates tamper-proof,” a top official of MVD told The Hindu here.

Once the vehicle undergoes the smoke test, the MVD personnel at the server will be able to monitor the procedures. The image of the vehicle and registration number plate will be captured through camera. Once the vehicle clears the test, a One Time Password (OTP) will be forwarded to the mobile of the registered owner of the motor vehicle. The owner can take the printout of the PUC certificate at his home or workplace or seek the help of the testing centre.

Those running the testing centres will not be able to alter the software or manipulate the readings as the total control will vest with the MVD once the e-connectivity is established, he said. The department can also alert the owner through SMS when the PUC certificate is to expire. With this, the testing centres will turn out be just ‘testing points’. The move comes in the wake of the rampant malpractices detected by the