Gov’t to award motor vehicle plate contract

MANILA, Philippines - A joint committee from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and Land Transportation Office (LTO) is set to finally award the contract for the P3.85 billion motor vehicle plate standardization project within the month.

DOTC spokesperson Michael Arthur Sagcal said the DOTC-LTO committee is now wrapping up the evaluation of the bids of the joint venture of the Netherlands’ J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG) and Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. as well as the tandem of Industrias Samart of Spain and Datatrail Corp.

“For the LTO motor vehicle standardization project, we expect to award within the month,” Sagcal said.

JKG-Power Plates proposed to supply the motor vehicle plates for P1.98 billion while Industrias Samart-Datatrail offered a higher amount of P2.03 billion. Both bids are lower than the ceiling price of P2.356 billion.

On the other hand, the JKG-Power Plates offered P1.196 billion for the supply of motorcycle plates while Industrias Samart-Datatrail offered a higher amount of P1.275 billion. Both bids were also lower than the ceiling price of P1.495 billion.

The JKG-Powerplates tandem priced the plate number for motor vehicles at P380 per pair and P120 per plate for motorcycles while the joint venture between Industrias Samart and Datatrail offered P388.05 per pair for motor vehicle plates and P128 per piece for motorcycles.

Once awarded, Sagcal said that the winning bidder is expected to start supplying the new plates for motor vehicles and motorcycles between September and October this year.

Under the LTO Motor Vehicle Plate Standardization Program, the winning bidders would have to supply and deliver all motor vehicle and motorcycle plates including screws and stickers to the LTO for a period of five years starting July this year.

The new and standardized plate numbers would bear security features as well as a bar code containing vehicle details like the chassis number and the date of registry. The plate numbers would have a combination of three letters and four numbers while motorcycles would have two alphanumeric symbols and five numbers.

Currently, motor vehicle plate numbers show three letters and three numbers while motorcycles have two letters and four numbers. The current license plate design and font has been in use since 1981.