Starting April 15, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) will enforce maximum prescribed rates in all driving schools in a bid to avoid hefty fees.
Under the newly-released Memorandum Circular No. JMT-2023-2390, LTO set the rate of Theoretical Driving Course (TDC) in private driving institutions to Php 1,000.
It also set the following rates for those who will take Practical Driving Course (PDC):
- License with codes A and A1 - Php 2,500
- License with codes B, B1, and B2 - Php 4,000
- Heavy vehicle with license code C or Carrier of Goods (Truck), D or (Passenger Vehicles (Bus), at CE o Articulated Vehicles - Php 8,000.
Driving schools that will not follow the prescribed rates shall face a penalty fine of Php 50,000 and six months suspension of their accreditation.
Those who will be caught violating for the second time around would pay a Php 100,000 fine, suspension for one year, and their accreditation would be revoked or canceled.
In the same memo, LTO also mandates driving schools to conduct TDC for 7 hours on the first day and 8 hours on the second day.
The PDC, meanwhile, shall be conducted in not less than 8 hours for at least two days, "provided that the student-driver has proven to have already acquired the knowledge based on the assessment by a practical driving instructor."
The agency also requires driving schools to encode the learner's details through Transportation Management System (LTMS) Client ID before and after sessions.
A Certificate of Course Completion shall be issued in real-time via the driving institution portal.
