The Commission on Audit (CoA) has called out the Department of Transportation (DoTr) over 1.7 million license plates that remained either undelivered or unproduced, eight years after payments were collected from motorists.

State auditors highlighted that this backlog had already been flagged in the 2022 audit, which reported a total of 1,797,115 pairs of replacement plates that were still undelivered.

Upon follow-up, the CoA found that 1,696,771 pairs of license plates, amounting to P763.6 million, had yet to be produced as of the end of 2023.

The replacement of old license plates for four-wheeled vehicles was initiated under the Motor Vehicle License Plates Standardization Program. Motorists were charged P450 for the new plates during registration renewal in 2015.

“Eight years since then, the LTO has yet to fully produce and deliver all the replacement plates,” the CoA noted.

The DoTr attributed the delays to budget constraints and prolonged procurement processes in 2023, which resulted in low production levels.

Another contributing factor was the agency’s decision to temporarily halt the production of motor vehicle replacement plates to prioritize the production of plates for newly registered vehicles due to a dwindling stock of license plates.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO), which oversees licenses and plate numbers under the DoTr, initially requested P6.8 billion to address the backlog in initial registration license plates from prior years, including partial requirements for 2023.

However, the 2023 General Appropriations Act allocated only P5.5 billion for the program, leaving a P1.4 billion shortfall.

The funding gap hindered the agency’s ability to meet its license plate production targets, making it unlikely to eliminate the backlog within the year.

The CoA has directed the DoTr and LTO to present their case to the Department of Budget and Management for the immediate release of funds required to produce the motor vehicle replacement plates and address backlogs for motorcycles.

The backlogs represent payments already collected by the LTO from registrants and remitted to the Bureau of the Treasury.

Additionally, state auditors urged DoTr Regional Directors to expedite the distribution and release of replacement plates to registered owners.