DOTr: plastic license card supply to “normalize” by September 2023

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Bautista declared on Wednesday, July 19, that the supply of plastic cards for driver's licenses is expected to return to normal by September this year. Motorists can anticipate receiving up to 130,000 unissued cards during this period. It seems motorists won’t have to worry about taking care of their paper licenses soon.

As of writing this article, the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) backlog of unissued plastic licenses is reported to be around 120,000 or 130,000 licenses. In Bautista’s statement, delivery of license cards will be done gradually, adding that the public can expect all pending cards to be delivered by September.

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Bautista further explained that the projection of a plastic card shortage, reaching up to 500,000, by DOTr and LTO was in consideration of the latter's Memorandum Circular, which extended the validity of driver's licenses until October 31, 2023.

"We previously issued a statement that there were almost 400 to 500,000 pending cases because we included those that we extended until October. Remember that on April 24, there was a Memorandum Circular that extended the validity of licenses expiring on April 24 until October 31, and by September, we can issue all these licenses."

Jaime Bautista
Secretary, Department of Transportation

Secretary Bautista also mentioned that the electronic version of driver's licenses (e-DL) is now available for access through the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) portal of the LTO. The e-DL can serve as an alternative identification card, but it's important to note that driver's license holders should also possess a physical copy. Just to be on the safe side, do take note of this before riding off armed with just a phone and mobile internet, traffic enforcers may still request a copy of the driver’s license regardless if the driver has an e-DL or not.

If you’re one of the motorists who were issued a paper driving license, the DOTr says that physical license cards will be available by August or September this year.