Renewed licenses to be doled out in April–lto

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) announced last Tuesday a comprehensive renewal schedule for motorists, aiming to kickstart the distribution process immediately after the Holy Week.

Following the decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to lift the injunction order, LTO Chief Vigor D. Mendoza II said he has already issued a memo to expedite the renewal process for motorists.

“I have already instructed our officials down to the regional level to prepare this list of schedules and finish it before Maundy Thursday. Our goal is to start the distribution process of the plastic-printed driver’s license next week,” Mendoza said.

Divided into specific timeframes, the schedule accounts for various expiration dates of driver’s licenses:

Motorists with licenses expiring between April 1 to August 31, 2023, and April 1 to April 30, 2024, are slated for renewal between April 15 and April 30, 2024.

Those with licenses expiring from September 1 to December 31, 2023, and May 1 to May 31, 2024, will have their renewal period from May 1 to May 31, 2024.

For licenses expiring between January 1 to March 31, 2024, and June 1 to June 30, 2024, renewal is scheduled from June 1 to June 30, 2024.

“Failure of the driver to renew his/ her driver’s license within the prescribed schedule shall render the license expired,” the memorandum read.

The recent delivery of 1 million plastic cards to the LTO Central Office marks a significant step forward, following the CA’S ruling in favor of the Department of Transportation and the LTO.

To recall, Allcard Inc., the bidder that failed the post-qualification process for the said deal, sued the government over the auction, citing “grave abuse of discretion regulating in lack or excess of jurisdiction to post disqualify petitioner Allcard, despite being the lowest calculated bidder and consequently to question the award of the contract to respondent Banner Plasticard Inc.”

Allcard was disqualified during the post-qualification process of its bid after the Department of Transportation’s (DOTR) Central Bids and Awards Committee (CBAC) found that it had“incurred delays in its ongoing contracts with the government.”

Banner Plasticard Inc. won the auction in June 2023. It is now moving forward with the delivery of the license cards with the CA ruling.

This delivery, coupled with the expected arrival of an additional 3.2 million cards, is poised to significantly reduce the existing backlog, which currently stands at approximately 4.1 million.

Mendoza assured the public of the LTO’S commitment to bridging the backlog gap while ensuring a steady supply of plastic cards throughout 2024.

To avoid overcrowding at LTO offices nationwide, Mendoza stressed the importance of adhering to the renewal schedule, which will be prominently displayed at LTO offices and shared via social media channels.

“We will do processing and claiming by schedule so that there will be no overcrowding in the LTO offices and eventually there will be order in processing and distribution,”affirmed Mendoza.