Bhubaneswar: Bringing a sigh of relief for commuters, the Odisha Government today relaxed the pollution under control (PUC) norm for a period of one month.

The move came after commuters expressed their resentment over imposition of hefty amount of fine for flouting traffic rules, including violation of air and noise pollution norms.

Informing about the relaxation, Transport secretary G Srinivasan urged police personnel not to harass or penalize vehicle owners for this particular traffic violation under the Motor Vehicles Act 2019.

Following implementation of the amendment act on September 1, people are making a beeline in front of several PUC test centres to get the certificates after failing register online .

Two days ago, an auto-rickshaw drive and owner were slapped with Rs 47,500 fine for traffic violations in eight categories, including Rs 10,000 for violation of air and noise pollution norms. A day after, another driver and owner of an auto-rickshaw were fined Rs 27,500 for violating traffic rules, including Rs 10,000 for air pollution.