The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has extended the validity of all expiring driver’s licenses to one year amidst the shortage in the supply of plastic cards.
In a memorandum dated Sept. 6 and released Sept. 7, LTO Chief Vigor Mendoza said expiring driver’s and conductor licenses from April 3, 2023 to April 1, 2024 shall be valid until April 2, 2024.
“No collection of penalty for the abovementioned licenses shall be undertaken,” he said.
In case of renewal, the LTO Chief instructed that there must be a stamp saying “Valid as Temporary Driver's License Until Plastic Card is Released" in the official receipt (OR) of the motorist.
Alongside the stamp is the name of the LTO office and its contact details; name of the releasing officer, a front and back screenshot of the driver's license card that is printed at the back of the OR.
"The old or expired driver's license shall be returned to the owner and shall be valid until the new plastic card is released," Mendoza said.
The LTO chief first confirmed the grant of one-year extension of validity for expiring driver’s licenses during the House Committee on Appropriations briefing for the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) 2024 budget on Monday, September 4.
It can be recalled that in April, LTO bared that it has been experiencing shortage of plastic used in printing driver's licenses nationwide.
In July, the agency announced that it entered partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to launch digitized driver's license through the "Super app".
