Extended work hours eyed in LTO

MANILA, Philippines — Amid the increasing backlog in the renewal of licenses and car registrations, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is planning to extend its work hours and have its offices open on Saturdays in general community quarantine (GCQ) areas.

LTO chief Edgar Galvante said these could help mitigate the backlog and long queues that are expected once the processing resumes.

“We hope with this the backlog that has been building up can be eased up. If this is not enough, we plan to even open on Saturdays to accommodate those that will be trooping to our offices to renew their licenses and car registration,” he said in an interview with “The Chiefs” over One News.

He noted that the LTO might still cut back on the number of daily transactions because of the limited workforce during GCQ. 

Some LTO sites in the Visayas and Mindanao have resumed work. Others in Luzon might open by next week. 

Galvante said they will strictly implement quarantine protocols in their facilities as they resume work, including the implementation of social distancing.  

The LTO has extended the validity of licenses, permits and motor vehicle registrations under its jurisdiction up to 60 days after work resumption. 

Motorists do not have to pay penalties as long as they will be able to comply within the two-month extension. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Transportation (DoTr)-Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) have tapped the G-Xchange’s GCash mobile wallet technology and system to distribute the second tranche of the P8,000 emergency cash subsidy for drivers of public utility vehicles (PUVs) and transport network vehicles (TNVs) in the National Capital Region.

The DSWD and LTFRB’s partnership with G-Xchange Inc. is seen to facilitate quicker and safer distribution of the cash aid to more than 40,000 beneficiaries as the payout scheme promotes cashless and contactless transactions that is sought in the health and safety protocols imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

By leveraging financial technology for the disbursement of cash aid, the two agencies want to reduce the risk of crowding in disbursement centers like banks, while also improving efficiencies and promoting transparency and accountability.

The DSWD said TNVS driver-beneficiaries could withdraw their subsidies via GCash from any automated teller machine (ATM) nationwide or use the funds to pay for physical and online transactions. 

They may also use GCash to pay bills to over 70,000 merchants and billers, buy airtime load and easily transfer money to other GCash account owners or bank accounts from over 40 financial institutions nationwide.