The Land Transportation Office (LTO) now has an Online Theoretical Driving Course (OTDC) platform that will make securing a TDC certificate easier and more convenient for student drivers.
To clarify, unlike the free in-person TDCs of the LTO at its various branches nationwide, this online counterpart isn’t actually being offered by the agency itself. Instead, the LTO said in a statement that “under the program, the applicants will have the option to choose the online platform that will connect them to LTO-accredited driving schools that are given the permit to operate the online TDC.”
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This comes after LTO Memorandum Circular No. 2024-2503, or the ‘Revised guidelines on the accreditation of online theoretical driving course providers,’ was approved and published in January.
The memorandum circular lists the steps of the OTDC process as follows:
Online Theoretical Driving Course (OTDC) process
- The applicant accesses the LTO website and selects a driving school to enroll in the OTDC.
- The applicant is directed to the driving school’s website.
- The applicant registers and accomplishes the application form.
- Upon completing the application form, the applicant proceeds to pay the application fee online through the provided online payment channels.
- Upon payment, the applicant is given access or link to the OTDC provider.
- The OTDC shall be divided into modules. A quiz shall be given after completion of every module. The applicant must obtain a passing score of at least 80% before he/she can proceed to the next module.
- After all the modules are completed, a certificate of completion shall be emailed to the applicant by the driving school.
- The student shall then proceed to the driving school where he/she is enrolled for the final validation examination.
- Upon successfully passing the validation examination, the driving school shall issue the OTDC Certificate to the student and also electronically transmit the same [to] the LTO IT system.
If you’re still learning how to drive, the TDC certificate is one of the requirements to get a student permit in the Philippines. Online theoretical driving courses were offered locally during the pandemic, but now, there’s an additional accreditation process for driving schools who want to deliver the modules via online platforms.
“This will provide a flexible and accessible learning experience, which our Department of Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista has been pusing under the Bagong Pilipinas,” said LTO chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II.
“We are employing technology-aided solutions to ensure that the person taking the course is indeed the driver’s license applicant.”
