LTO: Non-appearance not allowed for registration and renewal

If you are planning to register your vehicle or simply renew, know that the practice of ‘non-appearance’, which is having fixers do all the paperwork without the vehicle ever going to a Land Transportation Office (LTO) district office is illegal – has been and always was.

LTO chief Jay Art Tugade has made it clear that his office will not tolerate ‘non-appearance’ vehicle registration and renewal any longer, whether it is done on-ground or online as it violates several laws including Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code or the crime of estafa or swindling, and Republic Act 11032 or the “Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018.”

According to Tugade, this practice opens up the possibility of scams where fraud, theft, estafa, and various other illegal activities can happen that will have legal repercussions and may even put you in harm’s way.

“Time and again, the LTO continues to remind clients not to patronize these spurious characters who offer their illegal services in exchange for a fee to be able to circumvent the process. We wish to reiterate that the motor vehicle registration process was put into place to protect clients and their hard-earned money, and to guarantee the safety and roadworthiness of their vehicle,” said Tugade.

The LTO chief issued a warning to all agency employees to refrain from entertaining offers from scrupulous individuals on ‘non-appearance’ services.

“If putting an end to this corrupt practice means removing LTO personnel from government service, then so be it. Again, I’d like to remind LTO personnel that I have zero tolerance for corruption. We will weed them out of the Agency if they put the LTO’s name in a bad light,” added Tugade.