LTO Violations and Penalties 2026: Complete Official List of Fines

The DOTC and the LTO issued Joint Administrative Order (JAO) 2014-01 on 2 June 2014.

The working, on the most common ticket: disregarding a traffic sign was ₱1,000 in the June 2014 schedule and is ₱1,000 today. A change of ₱0 on ₱1,000 is 0 percent.

The special laws fix their own fines. They are RA 10586 (drunk driving), RA 10913 (phone use while driving), RA 10054 (helmets), RA 8750 (seatbelts), RA 8749 (smoke belching) and RA 11229 (child seats).

A graphic titled “LTO 2026 Penalties” circulating on Facebook and X is not an LTO issuance. The table compares its figures with the law.

Driving without a valid license is ₱3,000 under JAO 2014-01. The order treats every licence problem as one violation with one fine, so an expired licence costs the same as having none. There is no separate tier for how long the licence has been expired.

Reckless driving is the LTO’s catch-all for dangerous driving, and it is the charge used for overspeeding. JAO 2014-01, Section I-E, has no separate speeding tier by kilometres over the limit. The fine climbs with each offence and the licence suspension starts on the second. Expressway operators can add their own overspeeding penalties; see the overspeeding guide for those.

JAO 2014-01 puts every other traffic rule violation under one flat fine of ₱1,000, first offence, with no escalation written into the order. This is the tier most tickets fall into. Each line below is a named violation in the order; cities and the MMDA may charge their own ordinance fines on top for the same act.

This table holds 17 of the page's 21 flat ₱1,000 first offences. The other four are failure to carry your licence or OR/CR, excess motorcycle passengers and two load lines.

The seatbelt fine under RA 8750 escalates, and the third offence adds a one-week licence suspension. Letting a child six years old or younger sit in the front seat counts as a seatbelt violation under JAO 2014-01.

Who must buckle up, and the exemptions, are on the seatbelt violation guide.

The helmet fine comes from RA 10054, Section 7, the Motorcycle Helmet Act. The rider pays, whether the rider or the back rider is bare-headed. There is no separate LTO line for an extra passenger. Carrying more people than the motorcycle is built for is charged as overloading at ₱1,000, and cities may add an ordinance fine. Motorcycles below 400 cc are not allowed on expressways at all; that is an operator rule, not a JAO fine. Check the motorcycle expressway rules before you take a big bike onto one.

Registration violations carry the highest ordinary fines in the order, and a right-hand-drive vehicle tops them all. Since January 2026 enforcers must accept the electronic OR/CR shown from the LTMS app (MC MVL-2026-4860). A forgotten paper OR/CR is no longer a ₱1,000 ticket if the digital copy is on your phone.

Registration lapsed? Renew it before you drive; the steps and fees are on the vehicle registration guide.

The Anti-Distracted Driving Act, RA 10913, Section 8, sets its own ladder, and it is the steepest ordinary fine a private driver faces. Holding a phone to call, text, browse or play while the vehicle is in motion or stopped at a light is the violation. A mounted device that does not block the driver’s line of sight, hands-free calls and emergency calls are allowed.

What counts as an allowed mounted device is set out in the anti-distracted driving guide.

Driving under the influence is a criminal offence, not an LTO ticket. The fine and jail term are set by the court under RA 10586, Section 12, and depend on whether anyone was hurt. The LTO acts on the licence only after conviction. The ₱10,000 figure on the viral graphic does not exist in the law.

Under RA 11229, a child under 150 cm must ride in a child restraint system. No child 12 or younger may sit in the front seat unless they reach that height. The exemptions are medical emergencies, a medical or developmental condition, and cases the IRR lists where the seat would put the child at greater risk. Taxis and public utility vehicles are outside the Act’s covered vehicles.

Three lines in JAO 2014-01 cover load. Axle overloading is charged to the owner or operator as a percentage of the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge rather than a fixed peso amount.

The largest fines in the order apply to vehicles carrying passengers for hire without a franchise. A first colorum offence also means a three-month impound, blacklisting of the unit and revocation of its registration; a second means the operator loses every unit.

Since 9 January 2026 a ticket runs under DOTr Transportation Memorandum Circular 2026-001 and LTO Memorandum Circular MVL-2026-4846. These five steps take you from the roadside to a cleared licence.

1. Get the ticket, keep your licenceThe apprehending officer issues a citation or Temporary Operator’s Permit with the violation and the fine. The licence stays with you and is flagged “alert/alarm” in the LTO system instead.
2. Count 15 working days from the apprehension dateSaturdays, Sundays, declared holidays and days when government work is suspended do not count. Tickets issued before 9 January 2026 follow the old rule.
3. Contest within 5 days if you dispute itJAO 2014-01 gives 5 days from apprehension to file a written contest, and the LTO 5 days from receipt to decide. The contest guide lists what to bring.
4. Pay at an LTO office or through the LTMS portalChannels and steps are on the ticket payment guide. Payment on time counts as full compliance with JAO 2014-01 and no suspension is recorded.
5. If unpaid after 15 working days: 30-day suspensionThe licence is suspended for 30 days under JAO 2014-01, and the alarm lifts only once the fine is paid. Worked example: a ₱1,000 sign ticket paid on working day 10 costs ₱1,000. Paid on working day 16, it costs ₱1,000 plus 30 days without a licence.

Each fine above comes from the issuance or statute named here. Where a source is a Republic Act, the fine is in the Act itself and JAO 2014-01 only repeats it.