No Change in Cost of New LTO Plates, One-Time Payment Only To Replace Old Plates

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) are clarifying recent reports which claim that the new license plates will cost more than current rates.

“The new license plates will still cost the same: P450.00 for 4-wheeled vehicles and P 120.00 for motorcycles. These are the current prices already. So it’s not correct to say that they will cost more. New vehicle owners, meaning those who will register their vehicles for the first time beginning February 17 this year, will be charged the same rate as everyone else before,” clarified DOTC Secretary Joseph “Jun” Abaya.

“The additional cost will be for owners of the current license plates, who will have to pay those amounts to get the new designs. But this is a one-time payment only. In exchange, we get many security features which will improve the safety of our families and loved ones,” he added.

Among the new security features are the tamper-proof bolts, which will permanently attach the license plates to the vehicle; the reflectorized sheeting to make them visible from afar and from any angle; and the “third-plate” sticker, which will display license plate numbers on windshields and cannot be torn off without leaving a trace.

These security features will curb illegal and colorum operations such as “tanggal plaka,” whereby current license plates are transferred from one vehicle to another to carry out crimes such as carnapping and other heinous acts.

In addition, the DOTC and the LTO have also incorporated “road discipline” features to improve enforcement and prevent violations of traffic or franchising rules.

For example, the protocol license plates issued to members of the Senate and the House of Representatives will now indicate which Congress or term they are serving in, and which years this will cover. Thus, the validity of protocol plates will expire simultaneously with the term of the public official, preventing the unauthorized extension of their use.

“We believe that public officials will appreciate these new features, since we should all lead by example,” said Abaya.

For public utility vehicles (PUVs), their license plates will indicate the region where registration was made. Public utility buses (PUBs) will also bear a label of “city bus” or “provincial bus,” and their “third plate” sticker will reflect their authorized routes.

“These will help improve road discipline and safety. They will enable traffic enforcers to apprehend PUVs which violate their franchises. Legitimate PUV operators should welcome this, since colorum vehicles will be weeded out,” Abaya remarked.