LTO goes digital in issuing traffic violation tickets

Starting next week, enforcers of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) across the country will no longer issue a hard copy of traffic violation tickets as part of the digital shift of the agency.

Instead, LTO chief Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade said its officers will be using a Law Enforcement Handheld Mobile Device for the issuance of the electronic Temporary Operators’ Permit (e-TOP), explaining that the system would enable a fast and reliable input to the LTO system with regard to violations of motorists.

"Next week, we will no longer be issuing manual TOP. Instead, the the TOP will already be machine-generated," said Tugade.

He said the digital shift is an anti-corruption measure since a traffic enforcer could no longer alter the violation once it is entered into the system.

Tugade said the handheld mobile device that will be distributed to its enforcers has the capability to detect if the driver's license presented by a motorist is fake.

"The device has a camera and fingerprint scanner for the LTO traffic enforcer to verify if the driver's license presented is fake. The camera can also be used as face recognition scanner," said Tugade.

The device, he added, has two mobile SIM card to ensure strong and reliable internet connectivity.

But Tugade said the handheld mobile device has the capability to issue traffic violation ticket even offline.

"Once mobile data connectivity is available, all transactions will be uploaded and saved to our servers," said Tugade.

Tugade said the next step for the LTO is to facilitate the cashless payment feature wherein fines for the traffic violation could already be paid through credit card or electronic wallets.

The official said a refresher course will be conducted to all LTO enforcers for them to be familiarized the system.