After extending the driver’s license validity to October 31 last April due to a shortage of plastic cards, the LTO has issued a new advisory where the validity will be extended to April 2, 2024–or until the LTO has resolved the shortage.

The advisory also adds that no penalties will be collected for licenses that will expire from April 3, 2023 to April 1, 2024. To make sure that their license will be made valid, the system-generated OR will be stamped with “Valid as temporary driver’s license until plastic card is released.” Renewed licenses will have the following details:

• Name of the issuing office, contact personnel, and contact details
• Name and signature of the releasing officer
• Screenshot of the license card printed at the back of the OR

Old or expired licenses will be returned to their owners and shall remain valid until replaced by a new plastic card.

While the LTO committed to delivering around 500,000 license cards last June, the LTO is currently facing a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by Quezon City RTC Branch 215. This resulted in a petition filed by AllCard Inc. after it accused the DoTR’s Centralided Bids and Awards Committee of committing grave abuse of discretion.

In AllCard’s complaint, they said that the LTO wrongfully accused them of delays with its ongoing projects with BSP, SSS, and the Land Bank of the Philippines without being given a chance to verify these claims. In addition, AllCard argues that they presented the lowest bid at Php 176,853,600 (vs. Php 240.12 million by Banner Plasticard Inc.), yet LTO awarded the procurement to their competitor without waiting for the reglementary period to file a protest.