Bengaluru: Karnataka’s vehicle emission monitoring system has all but collapsed, with over 400 Pollution Under Control (PUC) centres across the State shutting down after the Transport Department failed to supply mandatory hologram stickers for nearly a month.

Most of the affected centres are located at petrol bunks, disrupting routine emission testing and leaving thousands of motorists without valid PUC certificates, thereby exposing them to penalties during enforcement checks. Industry representatives have termed the situation a forced shutdown.

“We have had to keep our shutters down for the past eight days,” said B.R. Ravindranath, former President, Karnataka State Petroleum Dealers’ Association.

“Out of nearly 2,600 PUC centres in the State, a majority are now non-functional. Without hologram stickers, certificates cannot be issued,” he said.

Mandatory to prevent forgery

The crisis is due to delays in getting and distributing security holograms, which are needed to prevent forgery. Because of this, testing centres cannot function, vehicle owners cannot follow the law, and police are forced to enforce rules that the Government has made impossible to follow.

The disruption comes at a time when the State is advocating cleaner mobility and stricter emission norms, highlighting administrative bottlenecks and poor inter-departmental coordination within the Transport Department.

A senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal for procuring holograms has been pending clearance for nearly two months.

“It was delayed for various reasons and has now been sent to the Finance Department. There is no clarity on how long it will take. Around a month ago, five lakh hologram stickers were released as an emergency measure, but that stock has been exhausted,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, complaints have surfaced about unscrupulous elements using fake holograms to continue operations at some emission centres.

With no clear timeline for restoring supplies, pressure is mounting on the Government to act swiftly and normalise emission testing across the State.