INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), with the Land Transportation Office (LTO), will be strictly enforcing, starting on April 1, the “No Registration-No Travel Policy” for motor vehicles, the DOTC said in a statement on Wednesday.
In line with this, all motor vehicles must be registered, or at least be in the seven-day registration period, by the start of next month, the DOTC said.
“It has always been prohibited by law to use motor vehicles which have not been registered with the LTO. The only exception is the first seven days, during which registration should be processed by the vehicle owner,” Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya said in the statement.
“We held back from implementing this rule before, because the lack of license plates was our responsibility. But now that we have been able to issue new license plates within seven days from start of registration, we have no more reason not to implement the law,” he added.
Under the No Registration-No Travel policy, any four-wheeled motor vehicle running without a license plate may be flagged by a traffic enforcer because all concerned vehicles are required to have valid license plates. To be clear, these may be any of the nine older green-and-white license plates or the new black-and-white license plates, for as long as they are valid.
The applicable penalties for a violation of this rule under Joint Administrative Order No. 2014-01 include a P10,000 fine for driving an unregistered vehicle, which is assessed against the vehicle owner, and a P 1,000 fine assessed against the driver.
If the driver is able to present a certificate of registration and an official receipt to prove that the vehicle has been registered, the driver will be fined P5,000 for failure to attach plates.
For motor vehicles that are within the seven-day registration process, the driver must present the certificate of stock reported, sales invoice dated within seven days prior to the apprehension, and a certificate of insurance cover dated on or after the date of the sales invoice. If such documents are presented, no penalties will be imposed.
As an additional penalty, should the date of the sales invoice exceed 37 days on the date of apprehension, the motor vehicle will be impounded by the LTO.
“If your dealer tells you that the LTO does not have your license plates beyond the seven-day period, report this to us and tell your dealer to pick them up. You may also personally claim your license plates from the LTO regional office if you wish,” Abaya said.–Miguel R. Camus