Insurance agents and brokers will now to have ask their clients to furnish pollution under control (PUC) certificate of the vehicle at the time of renewal of motor insurance.
In a move to cut down air pollution, the Supreme Court has directed insurance companies not to renew motor insurance policies without PUC certificate. The apex court said, “Insurance companies will not renew insurance of a vehicle unless the owner provides pollution under control (PUC) certificate.”
Currently, policyholders do not require furnishing any additional documents at the time of renewal of the third-party motor insurance policies.
To facilitate the ease of obtaining the PUC certificate, the apex court has asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to ensure that all petrol pumps have PUC centres. To start with, the ministry will have to ensure availability of PUC centre in petrol pumps of National Capital Region (NCR) within a month.
Third party motor insurance is mandatory in India. However, General Insurance Council data shows that only 40% of vehicles plying in Indian roads have motor insurance.