Grace Poe slams ‘arbitrary’ imposition of vehicle inspection fee

Senator Grace Poe on Friday hit a new Land Transportation Office circular which would require motorists to pay P1,800 for a motor vehicle inspection as the memo did not undergo thorough public consultation.

“The LTFRB should go slow, if not shelve this plan because it will be carried out without listening to the views of the affected motorists and other sectors," Poe said.

LTO Memorandum Circular (MC) 2018-2158, dated November 28, 2018, laid out the guidelines authorizing private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVICs). 

The MC was signed by LTO chief and Transportation Assistant Secretary Edgar Galvante.

Section 17 of the MC states that for every motor vehicle inspected at a PMVIC, a fee shall be collected—P1,800 for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) of 4,500 kilograms or lower.

The LTO was authorized by Department Order 2018-019, signed by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in August 2018, to privatize the motor vehicle inspection system.

Poe said the LTO must first heed the basic traffic rule of “Stop. Look. Listen.”

“Puro pasakit na lang sa taumbayan,” she said.

The memo also states that motorcycle and tricycle owners will have to shell out P600 for the inspection fee.

A reinspection fee of P900 will be charged if a 4,500-kg. vehicle fails the initial inspection. For tricycles and motorcycles, the reinspection fee is P300.

In January, Poe filed Senate Resolution No. 1003 to look into the exorbitant fees.

She hopes the Senate would see the wisdom of recommending against its implementation “so as not to double the fees and charges to be paid by motor vehicle owners.”

DOTr Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Goddes Libiran said last week the privatization is scheduled in August.

“Our target implementation date is August 2019,” she said, quoting LTO Executive Director Romeo Vera Cruz.

Poe noted that thorough and wide-ranging consultations should be conducted involving all concerned stakeholders to discuss the fee.

“Over the past years, the list of LTO-imposed new charges or regulations is growing—from car plates, to emailed medical certificates, and then this inspection fee,” she said.

The senator said the P1,800 fee is not a paltry sum and will dent the budget of motorists already reeling from high prices of fuel and other commodities.

According to LTO data, a total of 6,241,627 motor vehicles were registered in the first half of 2018, of which 1,514,787 were registered in the National Capital Region. —VDS, GMA News