Bengaluru: With hundreds of Karnataka motorists complaining of hefty pollution-related penalties slapped in other states despite holding valid certificates, Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy has asked affected vehicle owners to approach consumer courts. He said the imposition of the penalties lacked due application of mind.The minister’s response comes amid a surge in complaints from car owners fined by transport departments in states such as Odisha and Goa for air and noise pollution violations after their Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC) details failed to reflect on the Vahan portal of the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH). Several motorists have also received warnings that non-payment of the fines would result in the cases being referred to courts.Reddy said that, under a MoRTH notification, states have time until March 31 to integrate PUCCs with the Vahan portal, and that mandatory uploading of PUCC data will come into effect only from April 1.“Transport departments of other states penalised car owners without the application of mind. Integration of PUCCs with the Vahan portal is mandatory only from April 1, 2026. We are on the job,” he told TOI.Advising motorists to seek legal remedy, the minister said vehicle owners who were fined despite holding valid PUCCs should move consumer courts against the authorities that issued the challans. The controversy has put the spotlight on the Karnataka transport department’s delay in integrating PUCC data with the Vahan system. While vehicle owners in the state have been obtaining valid certificates from authorised emission testing centres, the absence of real-time data on the portal has resulted in enforcement agencies in other states treating the vehicles as non-compliant during inter-state travels.One of the motorists who brought the issue to the fore is Bengaluru resident Ashish Kumar Baliyarsingh, who was slapped fines totalling Rs 30,000 by the Odisha transport department in Dec 2025. The reason cited was the alleged air and noise pollution violations even though his PUCC, issued by an authorised centre in Bengaluru, was valid until Dec 2026.Baliyarsingh said repeated attempts to explain his case to Odisha authorities yielded no relief. “Two days after reaching my native place, I received two challans for pollution and noise violations. I received another challan for the same offence while returning to Bengaluru. I raised grievances on official platforms and submitted all required documents, but no relief has been provided so far,” he said.Even tagging the prime minister and the Union road transport minister on social media failed to resolve the matter.According to industry representatives, such cases are no longer isolated. A leading tourist vehicle operator said several people from Karnataka have been forced to obtain PUCCs from neighbouring states such as Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, as those certificates are instantly reflected on the Vahan portal. “When other states can ensure instant uploads, why can’t Karnataka?” the operator said.Yogesh, president of the Karnataka State Emission Testing Centres Owners Association, said his organisation has repeatedly flagged the issue with the transport department. “Twenty-six states are using NIC software that syncs PUCCs with the Vahan portal, but Karnataka is not keen on adopting it,” he said, adding that testing centres in the state are suffering business losses as vehicle owners look outside Karnataka to avoid penalties.While the transport department maintains that integration is under way and well within the deadline set by the Centre, motorists say the minister’s advice to approach consumer courts underlines the growing friction between inter-state enforcement practices and gaps in digital coordination. Instead, they argue that the state must take responsibility to resolve the issue.
