Digitext Asia wins contract to upgrade LTO IT infrastructure

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) on Friday said Digitext Asia Corp. has won the contract to upgrade the Land Transportation Office (LTO)-road transportation information technology infrastructure for P3.8 billion, the lowest among five bidders. 

 

Digitext Asia bested Fritz and Macziol Asia, Eurolink Network International Corp., Kaisa Consulting, and Ceragon Network, the department noted. Fritz and Macziol Asia was the second lowest bidder at P5.3 billion while Eurolink submitted the third lowest bid of P5.8 billion. 

 

The contract has an approved budget of P8.2 billion, according to the DOTC.

 

Transport Sec. Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya said the LTO IT system –  running for 13 years now – is no longer responsive to current land transportation regulation requirements. 

 

Once the new LTO-IT system is in place, authorities will have a better chance of recovering stolen vehicles and tracing smuggled vehicles, as well as preventing double registration and monitoring unregistered vehicles, Abaya said.

 

Also, once the LTO and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are operational, the government will be able to stop instances in which public utility vehicles (PUVs) can secure an LTFRB franchise without LTO registration, and PUVs are registered with the LTO but have no LTFRB franchise.

 

Five of nine companies that bought the bid documents took part in the public bidding that materialized after the Court of Appeals set aside a temporary restraining order issued by a Quezon City court against the project, the DOTC said in a statement on its website.

 

The sealed bids of Kaisa Consulting and Ceragon Network were not opened as the companies were not able to complete the technical requirements. Kaisa Conculting was not able to comply with the schedule of requirements and Ceragon Network was not able to meet the schedule of requirements and the certificate of reciprocity for a foreign consortium to qualify for the bid, according to the DOTC.

 

The other companies that bought the bid documents but did not join the bidding were Stradcom Corp. – provider of the LTO's current  IT system – Smartmatic, Oberthur Technologies, and Indra Sistemas S.A. — EST/VS, GMA News