LUCKNOW, April 4 -- Uttar Pradesh's decision to deny pollution under control (PUC) certificates to vehicles without high security registration plates (HSRP) from April 15 marks a clear shift from persuasion to enforcement, but the move is likely to run into ground-level challenges, particularly in rural areas and among owners of older vehicles. The transport department has integrated the PUC portal with HSRP data through the National Informatics Centre, ensuring that only vehicles fitted with authorised plates will be issued pollution certificates, effectively making compliance unavoidable for those seeking to legally ply or transact their vehicles. The step comes after years of sluggish progress despite repeated awareness drives, with a large proportion of vehicles registered before April 1, 2019 still not fitted with HSRPs. "Only around 50% of old commercial vehicles and 35% of private vehicles have been covered so far. The compliance gap is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where lack of awareness, limited access to authorised vendors and cost concerns have slowed adoption," an official said. With PUC certificates being mandatory for regular use and essential transactions such as vehicle transfer, the new system is expected to directly impact lakhs of vehicle owners who may suddenly find themselves non-compliant. Officials acknowledge that this could lead to short-term disruptions, including delays in ownership transfers and operational challenges for commercial vehicles, while also increasing enforcement pressure on field staff. "Complicating the situation further is the widespread prevalence of duplicate or fake number plates, which, while often escaping visual checks, are unlikely to pass digital verification under the integrated system," the official said, adding: "This adds another layer of complexity to enforcement, even as the government seeks to tighten compliance." Officials maintain that the move represents a decisive policy shift. "The earlier approach relied on voluntary compliance, which did not yield the desired results. By linking HSRP with essential services like PUC, compliance becomes mandatory," additional transport commissioner RK Vishwakarma said....