DOTr reiterates e-Driver’s License as valid alternative to physical DL
Among motorcycle riders, there is a common perception that they are often the primary targets of local police and traffic enforcers during roadside inspections. This belief likely stems from the fact that most, if not all, anti-criminality checkpoints across the country are primarily focused on motorcycles. As a result, there have been numerous instances where riders are apprehended for operating a motorcycle without their driver’s license on hand.
While it is true that some so-called kamote riders deliberately defy traffic regulations by riding without a valid license, there are also motorists who are properly licensed but simply forgot to carry their driver’s license for one reason or another.
This may eventually be reduced to a mere “Failure to Carry Driver’s License” offense once the physical card is presented at the LTO, but the damage is already done. The delay, the interrogation, and the presumption of guilt are unavoidable, especially at police checkpoints where motorcycle riders are often treated less as ordinary motorists and more as potential riding-in-tandem criminals.
Access your e-Driver's License through eGOVPH app
But did you know that since 2023, motorists have been allowed to present a valid electronic driver’s license (e-DL) via the Land Transportation Office’s Land Transportation Management System (LTMS)? Transportation Secretary, Giovanni Lopez, has reiterated that the LTO, along with its deputized traffic enforcers, is required to accept the e-DL when it is presented through LTMS or through eGovPH app, as mandated under Department Order (DO) No. 2023-015.
“For example, wala po kayong actual physical card pero may e-driver's license kayo at kayo po ay nahuli o mayroon kayong paglabag sabihin na natin, ang gagawin n'yo lang po ay ipakita nyo sa enforcer ang inyong e-driver's license na to be accessed through LTMS portal at 'yan po ay allowed,” said Lopez.
(For example, you don’t have an actual physical card but you have an e-driver’s license and you are caught or have a violation, let’s say, all you have to do is show the enforcer your e-driver's license which can be accessed through the LTMS portal and that is allowed.)
“May account po dapat ang driver's license holder. ‘Yun po ang kailangan ninyong i-access at ipakita sa enforcer. At ito po [e-DL] ay isa ring rason kung bakit hindi na kailangang i-confiscate ang actual physical license,” added Lopez.
(The driver's license holder must have an account. That's what you need to access and show to the enforcer. And this [e-DL] is also another reason why the actual physical license does not need to be confiscated.)
Meanwhile, the settlement of traffic violation fines can now also be done online, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to make public transactions more convenient and accessible.
