The Land Transportation Office (LTO) will prohibit and penalize the use of improvised and temporary vehicle plates starting November 1, 2025, the LTO announced on Wednesday.
According to LTO Chief Atty. Vigor Mendoza II, the agency no longer has backlogs of license plates for both four-wheel vehicles and motorcycles, which means ‘there is no more justification in the use of either the improvised or temporary plates.’
Once the policy is implemented, the LTO will impose a P5,000 fine and confiscate the temporary and improvised plates of vehicles that continue to use them.
Following this, Mendoza advised motorists who have yet to claim their plates to do so in October ‘to avoid any inconvenience with regard to the strict implementation of this policy.’
Additionally, Mendoza warned that improvised and temporary plates will no longer be accepted for the renewal of vehicle registration.
The initiative is in line with the LTO’s plans to implement a policy that requires official receipts, certificates of registration, and license plates to be released on the same day of a motor vehicle’s purchase.
However, Mendoza also stated that some improvised plates will be permitted, provided they are authorized and signed by the relevant LTO offices responsible for processing such requests.
These authorized plates shall ‘contain the assigned plate number of the vehicle with the words ‘Improvised Plate’ below it,’ Mendoza explained.
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has been addressing its backlog of motorcycle plates through its plate distribution initiatives.
The DOTr said it aims to distribute around 5.4 million motorcycle plates by the end of October.