Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) is taking the lead among car companies in the Philippines to try and see how the new online automobile registration system of the Land Transportation Office can ease the transaction of buying a car.
Sherwin Chua Lim, TMP first vice president for marketing, said at least three major dealerships of Toyota have been asked to try out the connection of the new Land Transportation Management System (LTMS) of LTO when registering a car purchase. The pilot run begins this October.
“The LTMS is part of LTO’s modernization program which aims to ensure the ease of doing business and quick delivery of its services through systemization. The LTMS will streamline all operations and aims to have seamless and paperless transaction accessible anytime, anywhere,” said Chua Lim in his memorandum to select Toyota dealers.
Under the new system, car buyers can expect real time registration of vehicles they purchase from any of the the pilot Toyota dealers. This means that the car buyers can now get their motor vehicle registration approved from within the dealership via a direct network connection to the LTO LTMS.
In the current system, a car buyer will have to wait a few weeks for his new car registration to be released by LTO since the application is done manually, meaning the application is physically brought to an LTO office where it is processed.
This has caused clients of car companies many inconveniences, including being apprehended for driving a motor vehicle without the required registration or plate numbers.
Under the LTMS, car dealers will have an online account and connection to the LTO server where they can digitally process all automobile registration application and receive and instant reply, much like the way it is done in the United States.
Dermalog, the IT company that created the system for LTO and is implementing it for the government agency, said this is the most convenient way to process car registration, especially in today’s condition where minimal physical contact is encouraged.
The German company has already competed the upgrade of the Driver’s License system at LTO where biometric identification and security has revealed plenty of double/multiple issued driver’s license or fake names and personalities.
LTO director Asst. Secretary Edgar Galvante said “the objective is to have a seamless transaction between car dealers and the LTO where there is no need for physical documents to be transported from the different car dealerships to LTO offices.”
“Simple online transactions is the goal, lowering the cost of transactions in terms of manpower, transportation and document processing. Wala na masyadong biyahe, gastos sa papel at mga tauhan na nagdadala ng papeles mula showroom papuntang LTO office. Mas maiksi na din ang waiting time sa documents, yan ang objective ng LTO sa paggamit ng LTMS,” Galvante adds.
The LTMS is an online system that allows clients of LTO to access services on the internet like driver’s license application and renewal, verification of violations and fines, and even payment of fines and fees. The system now also allows motor vehicle inspection center connections and medical test connection for free. The dealership to LTO process is the latest in the LTMS service system.
Toyota is the country’s number one car company in terms of sales and the best testing ground for the new digital system of LTO.