Tugade calls on vehicle inspectors to lower inspection fees, suspend collection of re-inspection fees

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Thursday appealed to private motor vehicle inspections centers (PMVICs) to lower fees collected from private motorists for the inspection of their vehicles prior to registration with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

In a statement, Tugade also called on PMVICs to suspend the collection of fees for re-inspection for at least one year.

According to the Department of Transportation ((DOTr), PMVICs collect P1,800 for each vehicle that will undergo testing and another P900 should the vehicle fail the initial series of tests and will have to be re-tested.

With this, Tugade said PMVICs should lower their fees to the same rates being offered by Private Emission Testing Centers (PETCs), which is around P500 to P800.

The Transportation chief issued the appeal after learning the sentiments of Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go to strike a balance between keeping the roads safe by disallowing not roadworthy vehicles from being registered with the LTO, and the financial difficulties being experienced by many vehicle owners at present due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Ako ay umaapela at nakikiusap sa mga PMVIC owners — Ipakita at iparamdam ninyo ang pakikiisa ninyo sa administrasyong Duterte. Babaan ninyo ang inspection fee ninyo, i-lebel ninyo sa kasalukuyang singil ng mga PETC, at i-waive ninyo ang reinspection fee habang may pandemya," Tugade said.

"With this, we are not sacrificing the more stringent process of ensuring vehicles are checked for roadworthiness prior to registration. But we are also avoiding putting additional burdens on motorists," he added.

Under LTO's Memorandum Circular 2018-2158, private inspection centers are to collect inspection fees of P1,800 from motor vehicles weighing 4,500 kilograms or less. If a vehicle fails, it will be required to undergo necessary repairs and retested for a P900 reinspection fee.

Motorcycles and tricycles are also charged P600 for the inspection fee and P300 for reinspection.

Vehicle Inspection Center Operators Association of the Philippines (VICOAP) president Iñigo Larrazabal earlier said that the P1,800 inspection fee was already brought down to P1,500 following a series of public consultations.

Larrazabal also decried the possible suspension of PMVICs operations as stakeholders have already invested from P50 million to P60 million, and investors have yet to see a return as most of the vehicles are still being brought to the private emission testing centers (PETC).

This comes as Senator Grace Poe-Llamanzares said she will recommend the suspension of PMVICs amid unresolved issues and concerns such as the timing of the implementation, considering the economic impact of pandemic.

The concept of having a motor vehicle inspection system (MVIS) prior to a vehicle’s registration with the LTO has been around for the past 40 years, according to the DOTr.

It is only during the Duterte Administration that the MVIS was made operational through the assistance and in cooperation with accredited PMVICs, it added.

The need to have proper tests to evaluate the roadworthiness of vehicles prior to registration, was highlighted by the alarming rate of registered vehicles involved in road crash incidents, the DOTr said.

Prior to the operation of PMVICs, vehicles being registered at the LTO are merely inspected for compliance with the Clean Air Act through a smoke emission test done at PETCs.

According to the Metro Manila Accident Recording and Analysis System (MMARAS), in 2019, a total of 121,771 road crashes were recorded in Metro Manila. An average of 334 road crashes were also recorded daily. Of this, 372 people have died, while 20,466 were hurt.

In addition to a smoke emission check, vehicles being inspected at a PMVIC undergo an automated three stage system that check for roadworthiness in 73 inspection points.

And unlike in the old vehicle inspection done by the LTO which is visual, the inspection of vehicles at a PMVIC is automated with limited human intervention, according to the DOTr.

The testing equipment even require biometric access such as the fingerprint of the operator to initialize operation, it said,

Results of the testing done at a PMVIC are sent real time to the PMVIC's local server and to the LTO’s IT system.

Corruption and tampering of results at a PMVIC is also reduced, if not removed, as the entire vehicle inspection process is fully documented with the use of closed circuit television cameras (CCTvs), the DOTr said. —KBK, GMA News