Recently,
I went to LTO DLRC SM Manila Branch to renew my Driver’s License. It’s located on the 5th floor of the mall. This was also where I renewed my license
three years ago and that experience was so smooth that I opted to renew my
license here again. When I arrived
around 11 am, the place was already packed. I got discouraged and wanted to leave and just
come back another day but I had nothing else to do for the entire day so I figured
I might as well do it now.
First
mistake I made was I didn’t bring a pen.
I had to go all the way to the ground floor to buy a pen from National
Book Store, so my first advice to you is to bring a pen. Here are the steps that I underwent in the
renewal of my Driver’s License. Mind you
that these are the steps in LTO DLRC SM Manila Branch. Other branches may have different procedures.
Step 1: Get your ADL (Application for Driver’s
License) form from Window 1. You will be
asked to present your driver’s license to verify that you’re eligible for
renewal or that your license is not expired. Fill up the form accordingly. Alternatively, you can download the ADL form
in advance from the LTO website here and fill it out while you're still at home.
Step 2: After filling up the ADL form, proceed to get
your “medical” exam. This was just an eye exam
to test your vision and it’s going to cost you 200 pesos. It shouldn't even be worth 50 pesos to be honest. I thought it would’ve been less with the drug
testing now removed from the protocol.
Step 3: After you've finished your “medical” (I'm
sorry but I just couldn't call it a medical exam with a straight face), submit your finished
ADL form, “medical,” and current driver’s license to Window 1.
Step
4: Your name will be called in Window 5
to get your picture and signature taken.
Step
5: Your name will be called by the
Cashier in Window 4 and there you will pay the fees. A standard renewal will cost P350 for the
License Fee and P67.63 for the Computer Fee for a total of P417.63. Professional and Non-Professional licenses
have the same fees.
Step
6: You’re now in the last step. When you hear your name called, you can now
claim your Driver’s License ID and Official Receipt. Sign on their logbook to indicate that you
have received your license and then you’re done.
You can buy
ID jackets for P20.00 if you want one.
They come in an assortment of colors.
The
whole renewal process only took around an hour or maybe a bit more even though
the branch was full of people when I arrived.
I thought it was going to take me the whole day but it didn’t. They have properly streamlined the steps and I
think it’s a great system that they’re implementing right now in order to
finish the process as soon as possible.
It cost me P617.63 in total. The
P200.00 for the “medical” was really disappointing. An eye test where you just have to read a
Snellen chart and a bunch of numbers to test if you’re color blind shouldn’t cost
that much.
Just for
additional info, these are the penalties for expired driver’s licenses.
- penalty if expired 1 day to 1 year = 75.00
- 1 year and 1 day to 2 years = 150.00
- 2 years and 1 day to 10 years = 225.00
