The Land Transportation Office has announced that it would be imposing a price cap on the courses which must be taken by those applying for a driving license, starting April 15.
Under the LTO’s “Omnibus guidelines on the accreditation, supervision and control of driving institutions, and the standardization of driver and conductor’s education,” the maximum prescribed rate for a 15-hour theoretical driving course (TDC) should be P1,000.
For an eight-hour practical driving course (PDC), the maximum rates would be P2,500 for motorcycles, P4,000 for light vehicles, and P8,000 for heavy vehicles.
LTO chief Jose Arturo Tugade said that under the new omnibus guidelines, the driving school fees would be reduced by over 50 percent, adding that they had received reports that some schools were charging as much as P20,000.
“These maximum prescribed rates were formed in response to the appeal of many of our countrymen who are crying over high charges but [these] can also be considered a fair step for driving schools that have also invested [in their businesses],” he said.
“[Let] this be a warning that we will impose the sanctions provided in the omnibus guidelines if you will not abide by the policy,” Tugade added.
The maximum prescribed rates were a result of consultative meetings with stakeholders and different driving schools, taking into consideration certain economic factors such as assumptions on how many students would be enrolling, and the schools’ operating expenses.
Republic Act No. 10930 mandated the LTO to implement prerequisites and guidelines in ensuring that only those with “sufficient” driving skills and road safety knowledge would be given a driver’s license. While the law didn’t prescribe maximum fees, the LTO opted to regulate the charges because “driving schools are imbued with public interest.”
The quality of drivers on Philippine roads depends on the quality of the driver licensing process, which should be independent of the cost. Making drivers licenses inaccessible to more Filipinos by allowing driving schools to make a killing is not the way to do it. While it is a positive development for the LTO to regulate this cost that comes with acquiring a driver’s license, we continue to hope that quality of driving schools and courses does not deteriorate along with the pricing, rather, is somehow improved further so that the country’s future comes with better Filipino drivers.*
