The Department of Transportation (DOTr) yesterday said it will issue suspension orders against erring Private Emission Testing Centers (PETCs) for various violations.
The DOTr, through its Investigation, Security and Law Enforcement Staff (ISLES) and Franchising Review Staff (FRS), has collected millions of pesos worth of fines from numerous PETCs nationwide with violations ranging from having no testing probes, no testing machines to non-appearance of vehicles for testing or falsification of test results.
PETCs are authorized private facilities of the DOTr in testing the level of opacity and analysis of the gaseous emission of a motor vehicle in accordance with Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act.
The agency said it has noted a significant increase in fines collected starting 2017.
In 2017, ISLES/FRS only collected a total of P90,000 in fines from three PETCs, while a total of P450,000 in fines were collected from six PETCs in 2018.
The collected fines jumped to P10.9 million from April to December 2019 from 89 erring PETCs nationwide.
For the period of January 1 to January 27 alone, there were already 86 PETCs that have been found to commit violations. These erring testing centers have paid a sum of P9.99 million in penalties.
