LTO to set cap on driving school fees starting April 15

MANILA: The Land Transportation Office (LTO) on Wednesday released new guidelines on the accreditation and supervision of driving schools, as well as the standardization of driver and conductor lessons.

The new guidelines will be effective starting April 15.

Memorandum Circular No. JMT-2023-2390 states that private driving schools are only permitted to charge up to P1,000 for a theoretical driving course and P2,500 to P8,000 for a practical driving course, depending on the kind of vehicle or license code the applicant will be applying for.

Applicants can finish the required 15-hour theoretical driving course in two days rather than three to seven hours on the first day and eight hours on the following day – within a month.

Meanwhile, the practical driving course must be at least eight hours as required by the license code.

The practical driving course for light and heavy vehicles must be at least two days, but the eight-hour course for motorcycles can be done in one day if the student-driver can demonstrate that they have already gained knowledge through an evaluation by a practical driving instructor.

Due to the issue of some applicants not showing up, driving schools are also mandated to register the biometrics and information of their applicants into the LTO system using the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) Client ID.

The applicants will be required to register their biometrics both before and after each session in order to track attendance. The driving school shall provide an attendance sheet to record the applicant's actual presence throughout the administration of the face-to-face theoretical driving course and written exam or validation.

Once the applicants complete the course and pass the final test in theoretical driving course and the eight-hour practical driving course, they will be granted a Certificate of Course Completion that is electronically sent to LTMS in real time through the Driving Institution Portal.

Driving schools were reminded by LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo “Jay Art” Tugade during a press conference at the LTO headquarters in Quezon City, that overcharging or not adhering to the new guidelines could lead to penalties such as fines, suspension, or revocation of their accreditation.

Driving schools that will violate the memorandum's prescribed rates will be fined P50,000 and suspended for six months for the first offense.

For the second offense, they will be fined P100,000 and their operation will be suspended for one year. For the third offense, the accreditation of the driving school will be revoked.

Photo from Land Transportation Office

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