The maximum fee for medical examination of driver’s licenses has been reduced to P300.
The Land Transportation Office advised Filipinos about this new price cap on its Facebook account on May 22.
In a statement, resigned LTO chief Jayart Tugade said that this move was in response to complaints that the costs of medical tests from the agency’s accredited clinics and health facilities are too high.
Tugade noted that the fee previously costs between P500 and P700.
“Hindi po natin maisasantabi ang maraming reklamo kaugnay ng sobrang mahal ng pagkuha ng medical certificate na ang iba ay nagbabayad ng P500 hanggang P700. Mabigat na ang halaga na ito para sa ating mga ordinaryong mamamayan,” he said.
A medical certificate is one of the requirements for a driver’s license.
To secure this, a driver-applicant must undergo a medical examination first from an accredited physician.
Under the new policy, each medical exam fee costs at least P300 per transaction only. A driver-applicant can also be charged a lower rate than P300 and not higher.
This was based on the recommendation of a committee that conducted studies and consultations about the most effective price cap to receive medical documents.
In its advisory, LTO also specified that the policy covers the agency’s accredited medical clinics and facilities and doctors who perform medical, physical and other medical procedures for all driver applicants.
Moreover, the following driver’s license applicants are also covered by the new price cap:
- Student driver
- New non-professional driver
- New conductor
- Renewal of license
- Those who will upgrade their non-professional driver’s license to professional
Accredited facilities that will ask for higher fees from applicants will face suspension of their accreditation for 90 days and a penalty worth P10,000 for the first violation.
Punishment for second and third instances of violations may be fined P15,000 and face a “perpetual” removal of their accreditation from the LTO.
According to the LTO, this update in the driver’s license requirement is in line with its previous Memorandum Circular 2018-2157, which states the following:
“Accredited medical clinics have several variances of fees and charges causing discrepancy of rates. For standardization, the LTO deemed it proper and necessary to set the specific maximum medical examination fees to be charged from driver-applicant by accredited medical clinics.”
Motorists welcomed LTO’s reduced maximum rate for medical exams.
The LTO’s announcement post has garnered 2,600 reactions, 513 comments and 979 shares on the platform.
The agency also previously implemented a more affordable limit for driving lessons at P1,000 for theoretical driving courses.
READ: LTO imposes price cap on driving school fee
The maximum cost for practical driving courses is P2,500 for motorcycles, P4,000 for light vehicles and P8,000 for heavy vehicles.