International Experience and Best Practices - Clean Air Initiative

In Delhi, four government employees have responsibility for inspecting over 400 PUC
centers, checking that equipment is working and that technicians are authorized and
following proper procedures. 224 However, this constitutes only a tiny step toward true
oversight and QA. SIAM has piloted a more sophisticated approach that takes the first
steps toward computerized data entry and record keeping. The Mashelkar Committee
has endorsed its adoption.
In principle, there is a rational division of labor among the national and state
governments: the national government sets minimum emission standards and equipment
and test specifications, and state government implements the program with the option of
setting stricter standards.
Another aspect of institutional design largely ignored in India is the phase-in of I/M,
coupled with constant evaluation and evolution. Essentially India set up I/M systems for
all vehicles at once, and set standards that have not tightened over time. It did not set
up means of evaluating performance and adapting and evolving. The result has been a
stagnant and ineffectual I/M system.
C.2.2. Test Procedures and Emission Standards
Fleet characterization has been a challenge for Indian policymakers due to the absence
of two key inputs: annual vehicle registration information and accurate emissions data.
Vehicles are registered just once when they are new or brought into a new jurisdiction.
Ostensibly, they re-register after 15 years. The lack of accurate records of emissions,
vehicle type, age, etc. means policymakers do not have a solid basis for revising cutpoints
to put pressure on drivers to maintain their vehicles. Efforts by SIAM, USAID,
and others described in the preceding chapters should result in better data, but they are
an inferior substitute for the kind of ongoing data collection and analysis seen in other
countries.
With regard to test procedures, Delhi and other Indian cities have used the most
common no-load tests from the outset: idle emission testing for gasoline vehicles
and snap acceleration tests for diesel vehicles. There has been little interest among
policymakers in moving toward loaded testing. In the case of PUC testing, the
institutional design virtually precludes loaded testing–where would the capital come from
for dynamometers? In the case of the I&C system, in theory, the government-operated
test-only centers could switch to loaded testing; but that system appears trapped in a
web of corruption.
Ironically, India has set the toughest emission standards in the world for new 2&3
wheelers, while its PUC standards for in-use 2&3 wheelers are among the weakest. The
national government set PUC and I&C standards in 1986 and they were not revised or
updated until 2004. For 18 years, three simple standards applied:
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• 4.5 percent CO for 2&3 wheelers
• 3.0 percent CO for cars and other gasoline vehicles
224 For example, technicians rarely use extension pipes in measuring 2/3 wheeler emissions when there is
a likelihood of dilution of the exhaust stream (Rajat Nandi, personal communication).