LTO to mandate same-day issuance of license plates

Car buyers may soon drive home with more than just a new set of wheels.

Beginning October 15, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will enforce a nationwide policy requiring that every brand-new motor vehicle leave the dealership with its license plates and official registration in hand.

LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said the move answers President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive to speed up the release of vehicle documents, originally mandated to be completed within three days. 

“On the part of the LTO, we assessed that the release of license plates and OR/CR could be done on the same day the newly purchased motor vehicle is released to the owner,” Mendoza explained.

All auto and motorcycle dealers are required to abide by the upcoming memorandum circular, which will be filed with the Office of the National Administrative Register and published in a widely read newspaper.

“Once this memorandum circular becomes effective, no brand-new motor vehicle or motorcycle shall be released by the dealers without the LTO license plate/s, and OR/CR,” he stressed.

The action, according to officials, is intended to avoid a recurrence of the nation’s infamous backlog of license plates, which at one time skyrocketed to over 12 million plates in recent years. Only when more resources were invested in manufacturing was the issue resolved in June.

According to Mendoza, the agency has developed a system integrable to its existing platforms to make the process seamless.

“With the hard work of our experts in the LTO, we were able to do it,” the chief added.

The new policy will go into force in mid-October, unless it is extended by a later decision. 

This means that dealers and LTO offices will have less than a month to make adjustments before drivers start taking their plates the moment they receive their keys.