Bhubaneswar, Dec. 16: The Regional Transport Office (RTO), Bhubaneswar-II, has decided to suspend trade certificates of as many as 36 automobile dealers within its jurisdiction for failing to set up vehicular emission test centre as directed by it.

However, the Bhubaneswar-I branch of RTO, which has around 80 automobile dealers within its limits, has not issued any such direction.

Regional Transport Officer of Bhubaneswar-II division S.K. Behera said that the dealers were not authorized for sale and servicing of vehicles till they complied with the directive.

"The suspended dealers cannot pay their business related taxes online either. We also urge customers not to buy vehicles from these dealers as such vehicles cannot be registered," said Behera.

The transport office had initially directed the two-wheeler and four-wheeler dealers to set up vehicular emission testing centres, popularly known as Pollution Under Control Test Centres, by November 30.

The deadline was later extended to December 15. However, the dealers failed to comply even with the extended deadline, which forced the authorities to take punitive steps against them. Transport officials said that the suspended 36 dealers sold around 150 vehicles every day.

The transport department had decided to conduct a drive against polluting vehicles in eight cities across the state, including Bhubaneswar, from December 2. But, lack of testing centres has emerged as a big problem for the vehicle owners to get their vehicles tested. They are being forced to wait for hours for their turn.

Obtaining a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate is a must for every vehicle every six months. The testing centres charge Rs 60 and Rs 100 for emission tests on two-wheelers and four-wheelers respectively.

The lack of testing centres in Bhubaneswar, which has more than 10 lakh vehicles, has posed a severe problem for drivers in getting their vehicles tested for emission standards.

At present, Bhubaneswar has only 11 pollution test centres, most of which are located at various petrol pumps.

Experts also feel that if pollution test centres are set up on the premises of automobile dealers, it would help people get emission tests done during servicing of their vehicles.

"We have decided to postpone the drive against polluting vehicles as there is a dearth of testing centres. However, our drive will continue from January next year," said a transport official. The penalty for not having a pollution certificate is Rs 1,000.

The suspended dealers did not wish to comment on the decision of the RTO. However, most of the suspended dealers hinted that they would shortly install the testing machines to avert any adverse impact on their sales.