Standardising emission test centres remains pipe dream

A project to standardise emission tests at 1,153 centers across the state has failed to take off as the tender process is delayed due to allegations that the Transport department has been trying to favour a particular company.

Vehicle emission is one of the major air pollutants across the world with a recent study stating that it accounts for 43% of overall air pollution Bengaluru. However, the emission test centers have frequently come under the scanner for issuing certificates without testing vehicles.

In 2017, the Transport department had slapped fine on 71 such centers found to be violating the rules during a random check. The number came down to 16 last year but sources said this was due to reduced checks. “A robust mechanism is needed to check violations. We called the tender to deploy the latest technology which prevents any manipulation by a test center,” a senior official said.

However, eight months since floating tenders, the department has run into problems as it had to scrap the first tender and a case in Karnataka High Court has delayed the second.

The first tender in October 2018 was cancelled after a committee upheld objections by the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) who questioned a tender condition barring them from the bidding process.

The second tender floated in March 2019 had said that bidders should have ISO 27001 certification and Common Maturity Model Integration Level 3 or above - a data processing standard - to be eligible to participate in the bidding.

When the department did not change the conditions, Bengaluru-based MARS Technologies got an interim order from the Karnataka High Court. The department has been directed to allow the company to participate in the bidding.

Sources in the department said they will move the court seeking to quash the interim order. “The tender conditions have been fixed following careful technical evaluation. There is no question of changing them now,” the source said.

The Akhila Karnataka Federation of Petroleum Traders, which had alleged that the department was trying to favour a company by introducing such specifications, has vowed to fight it further.