DOTC, LTO to Bare List of Delinquent Car Dealers

(DOTC) — The Department of Transportation and Communication and the Land Transportation Office will release list of delinquent car dealers who deliberately misinform their customers as to the status of their license plate applications.

“The public deserves to know if their car dealerships are shortchanging them. We will release lists of delinquent dealers in the coming weeks to show which ones aren’t fulfilling their promises to their customers,” Secretary of Transportation Jun Abaya said Tuesday.

Abaya said the problem is that the delinquent dealers tell their customers that the LTO does not have new plates, when in fact, the car dealers are the ones not fulfilling their services.

“They let months pass despite knowing fully well that the plates are ready—and they even mislead their customers about it,” Abaya explained.

LTO chief Assistant Secretary Alfonso Tan Jr on the one hand said that license plates for first-time motor vehicle registrants are available-on-demand. “Yet many of these plates remain unclaimed from LTO offices,” Tan said.

The DOTC and the LTO will release the lists of delinquent dealerships in the coming weeks, to better inform the public as to which dealerships actually deliver the services they offer to their customers, and which ones are shortchanging them.

“For owners of new motor vehicles whose dealers tell them that the LTO is not ready with new plates: come to our offices so you can claim them yourselves. Your license plates are ready at your place of registration,” Tan said.

Vehicle dealerships are regulated by the LTO, which can suspend and even revoke accreditation when warranted.

The new plates are part of the LTO’s License Plate Standardization Program, which will phase out the nine (9) existing designs currently in use, over the next two (2) years. They sport a sleek black-on-white design, which improves visibility and can be seen from different angles. The new plates contain various security features such as tamper-resistant locks, reflective sheeting material, and a “third-plate” sticker.

These third-plate stickers replace the windshield stickers currently issued as proof of annual registration. Similarly, registration stickers attached to license plates will no longer be issued for new license plates. (dotc.gov.ph)