Poe seeks probe on exorbitant vehicle inspection fees
Senator Grace Poe is calling for a legislative inquiry into the operations of the private motor vehicle inspection centers (PMVICs) and the exorbitant fees that they have allegedly been collecting from motorists.
Poe filed on Wednesday Senate Resolution No. 634, to look into the implementation of the issuances of the Department of Transportation (DOtr) and the Land Transportation (LTO) on PMVICs.
She particularly cited the LTO's Memorandum Circular No. 2018- 2518, which provides for the guidelines for the operations of PMVICs. The circular, she said, allows the PMVIC to charge an inspection fee of P1,800 from motor vehicles weighing 4,500 kilograms or less.
In the resolution, she noted, that if the vehicle fails the test, it will be required to undergo necessary repairs and be charged P900 for another inspection in the PMVIC.
For motorcycles and tricycles, a P600-inspection fee and P300 for the reinspection fee is collected.
Motorists, she said, have complained that the fees were "double" their registration fees.
"The fees following its implementation cannot come at a worse time in the middle of a pandemic where people are barely getting by and now have to add another item in their list of expenses," Poe, chairperson of the Senate committee on public services, said.
"Isipin mo naman, pati mga naghahanap-buhay na mag-deliver at namamasada pipigaan pa natin ng pera. Eh ‘di wala na silang naiuwi sa pamilya nila (Imagine, we will milk money from those who are delivering goods and transport drivers. They will end up not bringing anything home to their families)," she further lamented.
Aside from the increase of emission testing fees, Poe also mentioned complaints from stakeholders that the LTO did not consult them before the privatization of the Motor Vehicle Inspection System.
The new inspection procedure, she said, was allegedly "more thorough" since it uses advanced technology to check the car from the inside out, "but this has also been accompanied with a number of complaints from motorists."
"Related to the lack of consultation is the seeming lack of transparency in the process of selecting PMVICs, which, according to concerned groups, might provide an avenue for corruption," she said.
Another issue that she raised was the supposed absence of interconnectivity between the IT system used by the PMVICs and the LTO, which compels vehicle owners to pay for another testing in another testing center.