JOIN USGet a favourable emission certificate for just Rs 150
Emission certificates issued by some private centres in the City can be manipulated, it has emerged. By paying just Rs 100-150, you could get a favourable emission certificate for your vehicle.
Sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) busted an emission testing racket by raiding six emission centres on Wednesday. Among those arrested is none other than the president of the Karnataka State Emission Testing Centres’ Association, Yogesh, who runs four centres. The rest are workers at the centres. The CCB said that it carried out the raids following a tip-off.
The centres which were raided are: Green City Emission Testing Centre on Old Airport Road, Green City Emission Testing Centre in Baiyappanahalli, Green City Emission Testing Centre in Koramangala, Harsihtha Emission Testing Centre in KG Halli and Ayyappa Emission Testing Centre in Jalahalli, the CCB added.
The centres, according to the CCB, were issuing fake emission testing certificates and would test vehicles without following the due procedure prescribed by the transport department.
Rules stipulate that every vehicle must be checked more than five times and the photograph of its registration number along with its emission test reading values be published on the website of the transport department. Only then should the emission testing certificate be issued.
In gross violation of these rules, these centres used to upload random reading numbers of the emission test and charge the customer double the fee and issue them the certificate. The actual fee for an emission test is Rs 75 but the centres would charge Rs 100-150, a senior police officer said. Yogesh, the officer went on, was earning as much as Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh per month from each centre.
“There have been numerous complaints about such centres. We will raid more such centres in the coming days,” the officer said.