LTO buys license plate-making robot to eliminate backlog by 2020

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) is optimistic that the backlog in the issuance of license plates will be completely eliminated by 2020 after it acquired a robotic equipment to hasten their production.

"We feel we can cover up the backlog in due time," Transportation Assistant Secretary and LTO chief Edgar Galvante said in a press conference in Quezon City on Tuesday.

"Zero plate backlog by mid-2020," Galvante said.

The robotic equipment or IDEROBOT can produce 700 plates in an hour or an estimated 5,600 plates in an eight-hour shift per day.

"Gagamit na kami ngayon ng robot para mas mapabilis ito," Galvante said.

The LTO chief added that the agency will print plates in advance so that new vehicles will have plates when purchased

The LTO has incurred a backlog of eight million vehicle plates since 2014 after Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance, which prevented the distribution of around 700,000 license plates then.

The Supreme Court lifted on January 2018 its order against releasing 700,000 license plates turned over by the Bureau of Customs to the LTO.

To address the backlog, the LTO opened its own plate-making facility and has so far printed 1.7 million and issued 1.3 million pairs of plates as of March this year. —NB, GMA News