Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 31) — The Land Transportation office (LTO) on Monday said it will soon issue a memo that will give vehicle owners 60 days to claim their new license plates, otherwise, they may face penalties.
“We’ll be issuing a memo this week addressed to our regional directors for them to deliver these license plates to their end users within the next 60 days,” LTO chairman Vigor Mendoza II told CNN Philippines’ The Source.
The Commission on Audit earlier reported that 1.79 million pairs of license plates worth over ₱800 million remain unclaimed. These are replacement plates that were already paid for by car owners upon their renewal of vehicle registration.
Mendoza noted the unclaimed plates include those for motorcycles.
He said regional directors are currently being consulted if the 60-day period will be enough, but he believes this will be sufficient since not all areas have big volumes of unclaimed plates.
Aside from those with the agency, the LTO chief noted that there are also license plates stuck with dealers where the vehicles were acquired.
\”We will be talking to the dealers in order for them to also do their part in bringing these down to their customers,\” Mendoza said.
If the license plates are left unclaimed after 60 days, Mendoza said the owners and car dealers may be slapped with penalties.
Specifically for vehicle owners, he said among those they are considering is the suggestion of Senator Francis Tolentino to cancel the certificate of registration.
Mendoza said he will fly to Cebu on Tuesday to look into the information campaign regarding unclaimed plate numbers.
The Department of Transportation recently launched a website to help car owners track their new vehicle plates. This can be accessed through https://ltoplatereplacement.com/.
