A preliminary injunction has been handed down by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 215 following the lapses of the temporary restraining order it issued over the Land Transportation Office's procurement of plastic cards for driver's licenses.

QC-RTC Branch 215 Judge Rafael Hipolito granted the petition filed by AllCard Inc. that questioned the procurement contract awarded to Banner Plastic Card Inc., which submitted a bid of P219 million inclusive of taxes for procuring the license cards, higher than the P177 million bid of AllCard Inc.

A post-qualification evaluation disqualified AllCard due to "delays" in another project involving the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other government agencies.

LTO chief Asst. Sec. Vigor Mendoza immediately expressed that it would be a big setback to the project which would stop the deliveries of the plastic cards which may add another two-month delay.

"Once effective, mahihinto ang supplier natin. Hindi na siya pwedeng magdeliver… Dati goodbye papel, eto welcome back although the injunction is not yet effective," he said in a radio interview.

"Ang maaapektuhan 'yung current usage, 'yung dapat kasi nung Oktubre if you filed a license in October you would get it automatically. Ngayon mapapahinto natin 'yan dahil magkukulang tayo ng card," he added.