MANILA, Philippines鈥擳he Land Transportation Office (LTO) has lifted the 150-day limit on the validity of temporary licenses due to the shortage of new license cards.
鈥淲ith the shortage in AMPI鈥檚 (Amalgamated Motors Philippines Inc.) license card supply, the LTO was left with no choice but to issue temporary driver鈥檚 licenses with a 150-day validity period, with the expectation that AMPI would be able to provide license cards within that period,鈥� the LTO said in a statement on Thursday.
LTO, in memorandum circular No.聽AVT-2015-1925 issued on March 20, said that聽the use of temporary license was allowed until the shortage is addressed.
The shortage of license cards stemmed after the LTO discontinued paying its supplier, AMPI, after the Commission on Audit (COA)聽disallowed further payments due to the absence of a valid contract.
To address the concern, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and the LTO announced on Thursday the opening of a bid for a聽new supplier of driver鈥檚 license cards to聽take action on the recent shortage of cards at various offices nationwide.
鈥淭he P450-million project aims to stabilize supply by the third quarter of 2015,鈥� the DOTC said.
Prospective bidders may begin purchasing bid documents, as bid submission and opening is set聽on April 20, it added.
The agency said that the bid for each piece of license card should not exceed P90.09, adding that the聽winning supplier would be required to deliver the goods within 30 calendar days. RC