LTO pushes new car registration scheme despite COA objections

THE Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) is determined to implement a new scheme in vehicle registration in defiance of repeated warnings by the Commission on Audit (COA) that the setup might give way to irregularities.

In an advisory released last May 4, by the LTO’s Management Information Division instructed its offices nationwide to use the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) in validating and authenticating the Certificate of Cover (COC) needed for motor vehicle registration.

This was after the Insurance Commission (IC) released an advisory last April 29 through their website, that the Electronic Compulsory Third Party Liability (eCTPL) Application Programming Interface (API) will be simultaneously used by the LTO, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Philippine Insurers and Reinsurers Association (PIRA), and the Organization of Insurance Companies in the Philippines (OICP) starting May 2, 2022.

However, the LTO clarified that LTMS would only be used for all registration renewal transactions for the time being, until it can also handle new motor vehicle registrations.

Long queues of vehicle registrants formed at LTO offices nationwide during the first day of its implementation due to the slow processing of LTMS.

According to some LTO employees, the usual five-minute processing time for COC validation and authentication using the old system now takes at least 30 minutes in select LTO branches where internet connectivity is problematic.

It was also reported that the insurance companies have experienced difficulties in uploading data to the LTMS.

The new IT system has also caused massive delays in motor vehicle registration in LTO Baguio as reported by a local news channel Regional News Channel – RNG Luzon on its Facebook page last May 5, 2022.