When you buy a brand-new car in the Philippines, its initial motor vehicle registration—which the dealership usually processes for you—is good for three years. After that, renewing the registration with the Land Transportation Office becomes an annual affair with the schedule based on the vehicle's license plate number.
Working out the month in which you should make the yearly trek to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is pretty straightforward, but that's not all there is to knowing the deadline. Within the month that your registration is due for renewal, you only have a one-week period to get all the requirements sorted and filed. Otherwise, late registration fees kick in or you could be slapped with a P10,000 fine if caught driving with an unregistered vehicle.
Here's how to know when your car registration is due for renewal:
The last digit on your plate number corresponds to the month you need to have your registration renewed
This is the easy part—the numbers 1 to 0 at the end of your license-plate number simply correspond to the months January to October. If your plate number ends in 9, for example, you should renew its registration in September.
- 1 - January
- 2 - February
- 3 - March
- 4 - April
- 5 - May
- 6 - June
- 7 - July
- 8 - August
- 9 - September
- 0 - October
The second to the last digit determines the week you need to have your registration renewed
Look at the digit immediately to the left of the last number on your license plate. This tells you the exact week you should be renewing your car registration.
- 1, 2, 3 - 1st to 7th day of the month (first week)
- 4, 5, 6 - 8th to 14th day of the month (second week)
- 7, 8 - 15th to 21st day of the month (third week)
- 9, 0 - 22nd to the last day of the month (fourth week)
In the above image, because the license plate number 559, you can renew the registration on any working day from September 15th to 21st. Emphasis on working day, so if your renewal days include a long weekend, you have a shorter period of time to get things done.
Miss your registration week and you automatically get a late registration fee of P200 tacked on to your renewal fees. For renewal beyond the registration month, but not more than 12 months past that, your penalty is 50% of the motor vehicle user's charge. Renewal costs add up the longer your car remains unregistered. There are corresponding penalties for how much you'll spend if you don't renew for up to three years.
If you want to make the process as quick and easy as possible, make sure you prepare all the requirements well in advance. You'll want to settle any traffic-violation fines, too, because if you have unpaid fines on record, you won't be able to renew your registration.
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