LTO delays deadline on temporary, improvised license plates

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has delayed the deadline on the use of temporary and improvised plates.

According to the agency, it moved the proposed date — which was originally September 1 — to December 31, 2024.

“We ask the motorists to claim and install their respective license plates as soon as they are available either in the car dealerships and replacement plates in our offices,” LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Attorney Vigor Mendoza II stated.

Despite the extension, the LTO figurehead stressed that it will not diminish the organization’s effort to aggressively come up with measures to deliver all the unclaimed license plates to their rightful owners.

In fact, the country’s land transportation bureau met with various motor vehicle dealerships last month, wherein the said dealers said that their clients were unable to claim the plates despite repeated messages to them.

An investigation conducted by the agency — which led to the issuance of the memorandum against the use of improvised and temporary license plates — revealed that registered owners of vehicles, especially the newly bought ones, are not claiming their license plates from motor vehicle dealerships.

The LTO Chief Assistant Secretary instructed the agency’s Regional Directors and District Office heads to coordinate with the local government units for the distribution of the license plates.

“There is no more backlog in four-wheel vehicles so there is no reason for these vehicle owners not to claim and install them in their vehicles,” Mendoza noted.

“Ang natitira na lamang pong backlog ay mga plaka sa mga motorsiklo at ito po ay ang focus namin ngayon in compliance with the directive from President Marcos to address all the backlog on license plates by June next year (the only remaining backlog is license plates on motorcycles and this is our focus now in compliance with the directive from President Marcos to address all the backlog on license plates by June next year),” he added.

Relatedly, the LTO released a total of 3,940 Show Cause Orders to motor vehicle dealers across the country. The said dealers reportedly failed to release license plates as well as the Official Receipt and Certificate of Registration (OR/CR) of their clients within the 11-day prescribed period.

“Maging aral sana ito sa sa lahat ng car dealers na hindi nagtatapos sa pagbebenta ng mga sasakyan at motorsiklo ang kanilang obligasyon, dapat ay ibigay nila ang mga nararapat na serbisyo sa kanilang kliyente lalo na ang mga plaka at OR/CR dahil napakahalaga nito alinsunod sa mga batas at regulasyon ng ating bansa (may this be a lesson to all car dealers that their obligation does not end with the sale of cars and motorcycles, they should provide the appropriate services to their clients especially license plates and OR/CR ​​because it is very important to comply to the laws and regulations of our country),” Mendoza emphasized.

Penalties of up to P1 million await dealers who will be found negligent of their duties.

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