Petrol pump owners seek to meet Delhi transport minister over PUCC rates

Petrol pump owners on Thursday wrote to Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, seeking a meeting with him to revise PUCC rates for Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates in the national capital.

The letter comes days after the Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association (DPDA) shut down nearly 600 PUC centres functioning at petrol pumps, saying the hike was not commensurate with operational costs.

On July 11, the Delhi government increased the PUC certificate charges for petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles after a gap of about 13 years. The hike ranges between Rs 20 and Rs 40.

"Sir, most of the PUC centres have operated the last few years in losses to avoid any inconvenience to the general public. However, due to this extreme unviability, many PUC centres have been forced to surrender their licenses in the last few months.

The Managing Committee of the DPDA had thus resolved to close PUC centres across Delhi from July 15 in light of the "arbitrary and grossly insufficient hike", it said.