VICOAP welcomes LTO's scrapping of stencil procedure
Published Jun 5, 2023 03:01 am
The Vehicle Inspection Center Operators Association of the Philippines (VICOAP) on Monday, June 5, welcomed the Land Transportation Office (LTO)'s move to scrap the longstanding cumbersome stencil procedure for renewing vehicle registrations.
The stencil procedure was removed under LTO Memorandum Circular No. JMT – 2023-2399, guided by R.A. 11302 (Ease of doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act).
The main intention of stenciling is to verify the identity of the vehicle.
The action of taking a stenciled shading of a vehicle's engine and chassis number is conducted by authorized LTO District Office (DO) Inspectors to serve as proof that the vehicle is the same vehicle indicated in the LTO Official Receipt (OR) and Certificate of Registration (CR).
The shading is done on the bottom portion of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Report, more commonly knowns as the “Stencil Form” or “Blue Form.”
This Inspection Report also includes inspection points for roadworthiness, which are assessed and certified through a physical inspection by authorized LTO Vehicle Inspectors at the DO.
However, the recent memorandum of the LTO removing the stencil requirement does not mean that vehicle verification is also no longer required, VICOAP Spokesperson Atty. Fudge Tajar clarified.
It simply means that the actual stencil shading procedure is no longer required.
Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) do not conduct “stenciling,” however vehicle identification is still part of their inspection process.
PMVIC inspectors visually obtain the engine and chassis numbers, which are then verified against the LTO’s online database.
Once verified, the vehicle can then proceed with the rest of the inspection.
The inspection results are both printed out at the PMVIC and also digitally uploaded in real-time to the LTO database.
The printout serves as the customer’s copy for verification purposes at the LTO DO. Emission testing is already part of the PMVIC process.
This means that getting a Certificate of Emission Compliance (CEC) from a Private Emission Testing Center (PETC), on top of an inspection certificate from a PMVIC is not only redundant but also introduces an unnecessary cost to vehicle owners.
PMVICs are currently optional and vehicle owners are free to choose between them or PETCs.
Should they choose the PETC route, the vehicles must still be subjected to roadworthiness inspections at an LTO DO, because a CEC only certifies environmental emission compliance and not roadworthiness.
Passing roadworthiness inspections have long been a pre-requisite for vehicle registration renewal as directed by the Department of Transportation and Communications.
Currently these roadworthiness inspections are conducted by authorized LTO Inspectors at the LTO DO’s, and PMVICs.
Since PETCs only conduct emission tests, vehicle owners who choose that route must still subject their vehicles to a physical inspection at an LTO District Office. Since both emission and roadworthiness inspections are conducted in PMVIC, their customers need only show their inspection results at the LTO DO together with proof of third-party liability (TPL) insurance of their choice.
After paying the registration fee at the cashier, the renewal can be processed.
Vehicle owners also have the option of skipping a trip to the LTO DO entirely, and instead complete their plain registration renewal themselves through the LTO Online Portal – a service launched this February.
The stencil procedure was removed under LTO Memorandum Circular No. JMT – 2023-2399, guided by R.A. 11302 (Ease of doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act).
The main intention of stenciling is to verify the identity of the vehicle.
The action of taking a stenciled shading of a vehicle's engine and chassis number is conducted by authorized LTO District Office (DO) Inspectors to serve as proof that the vehicle is the same vehicle indicated in the LTO Official Receipt (OR) and Certificate of Registration (CR).
The shading is done on the bottom portion of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Report, more commonly knowns as the “Stencil Form” or “Blue Form.”
This Inspection Report also includes inspection points for roadworthiness, which are assessed and certified through a physical inspection by authorized LTO Vehicle Inspectors at the DO.
However, the recent memorandum of the LTO removing the stencil requirement does not mean that vehicle verification is also no longer required, VICOAP Spokesperson Atty. Fudge Tajar clarified.
It simply means that the actual stencil shading procedure is no longer required.
Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs) do not conduct “stenciling,” however vehicle identification is still part of their inspection process.
PMVIC inspectors visually obtain the engine and chassis numbers, which are then verified against the LTO’s online database.
Once verified, the vehicle can then proceed with the rest of the inspection.
The inspection results are both printed out at the PMVIC and also digitally uploaded in real-time to the LTO database.
The printout serves as the customer’s copy for verification purposes at the LTO DO. Emission testing is already part of the PMVIC process.
This means that getting a Certificate of Emission Compliance (CEC) from a Private Emission Testing Center (PETC), on top of an inspection certificate from a PMVIC is not only redundant but also introduces an unnecessary cost to vehicle owners.
PMVICs are currently optional and vehicle owners are free to choose between them or PETCs.
Should they choose the PETC route, the vehicles must still be subjected to roadworthiness inspections at an LTO DO, because a CEC only certifies environmental emission compliance and not roadworthiness.
Passing roadworthiness inspections have long been a pre-requisite for vehicle registration renewal as directed by the Department of Transportation and Communications.
Currently these roadworthiness inspections are conducted by authorized LTO Inspectors at the LTO DO’s, and PMVICs.
Since PETCs only conduct emission tests, vehicle owners who choose that route must still subject their vehicles to a physical inspection at an LTO District Office. Since both emission and roadworthiness inspections are conducted in PMVIC, their customers need only show their inspection results at the LTO DO together with proof of third-party liability (TPL) insurance of their choice.
After paying the registration fee at the cashier, the renewal can be processed.
Vehicle owners also have the option of skipping a trip to the LTO DO entirely, and instead complete their plain registration renewal themselves through the LTO Online Portal – a service launched this February.