LTO to roll out new vehicle plates in January 2013

Owners of new vehicles should expect to use new license plates on their cars next year.

The Land Transportation Office will implement standardized motor vehicle plate numbers in January 2013.

Stakeholders in a forum yesterday asked the LTO to have the new license plates attached in car manufacturing plants and not after the sale of vehicles.

This suggestion was raised in a public consultation at the Sacred Heart Center in Cebu City attended by transport operators and other stakeholders.

LTO-7 Regional Director Raul Aguilos said license plates will be standardized starting January 2013 and are renewable every after five years. The LTO is finalizing the administrative order.

“It has been observed that there are motor vehicles on the highways still using license plates of various types and designs, some dating back to 1984,” Aguiluz said.

He said the standardization will help address the difficulty in prompt identification of counterfeit plates, use of dilapidated plates, the common practice of non-replacement of lost plates, an unreliable motor vehicle database system and concerns on national security and crime.

Alita Pulga, chief of LTO Cebu district, said the new, standardized, plate number has security features.

It also has a bar code which contains vehicle details like the chassis number and the date of registry.

Standardized plate numbers in all new motor vehicles or those that will be registered for the first time will have a combination of three letters and four numbers, except for motorcycles that shall have two alphanumeric symbols and five numbers.

At present, motor vehicle plate numbers show three letters and three numbers; for motorcycles, it is a combination of two letters and four numbers.

Car plates will cost P450 while motorcycle plates will cost P120.

When a vehicle owner renews the motor vehicle’s registration, he or she shall surrender the license plates for replacement.

The new plates shall be released not later than 45 days after.

LTO-7 has been conducting public consultations since last week in Tagbilaran, on Thursday in Dumaguete City and yesterday in Cebu City.