The issues that surround No-Contact Apprehension Program (NCAP) have been all over the news this month. In fact, the new chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), amid concerns from the motoring public, has called on the suspension of NCAP until its issues are ironed out.
The LTO also said that the agency will get the help of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) if LGUs refuse their appeal. “We can appeal our request to LGUs with the DILG secretary if in case the Local Government Units (LGUs) reject it. Maybe, the DILG can refine and suspend the policy in the meantime,” said LTO Assistant Secretary, Atty. Teofilo Guadiz in an earlier interview.
The LGUs and the MMDA, on the other hand, have issued statements of solidarity that their policy concerning NCAP will stand and the program will be business as usual.
With that said, many are wondering why are MMDA’s NCAP fees different from LGUs? Also, why is it that the MMDA also has cameras within jurisdictions that already have an NCAP in place?
The MMDA answers.
In a recent infographic social media post, the MMDA has outlined key differences between their NCAP and the different LGUs’ NCAP policies.
MMDA operates its cameras in-house
According to the MMDA, all of their cameras, as well as their command center for NCAP, are owned and operated by the agency. The people manning these are also legitimate MMDA personnel.
For some of the cities that operate NCAP, their cameras, command center, as well as operators may be sourced from third-party providers and are possibly non-government employees.
MMDA’s NCAP fees are lower vs LGUs
The fees that the MMDA imposes on NCAP violators are lower compared to what the LGUs have. This is because, according to the MMDA, they operate their CCTVs, command center and everything related to NCAP in-house with their own personnel.
LGUs on the other hand may have higher fees based on their own ordinances and their NCAP may be operated by a third-party service provider.
How does the MMDA determine a vehicle’s traffic records?
To know the vehicle’s records, as well as the traffic alarms that may be associated with it, the MMDA taps the help of LTO’s Information Query Facility (LTO-IQF). From there, the MMDA will follow the encoding procedure for NCAP violators.
I want to contest my MMDA NCAP violation
In the spirit of due process, motorists are free to contest their NCAP violation with the MMDA, all they have to do is to file a protest at the MMDA’s Traffic Adjudication Division (MMDA-TAD). If, after verifying the facts and the violation is found to be illegitimate, the notice of violation, as well as the vehicle alarm, will be canceled.
If the NCAP traffic violation is found to be legitimate, the traffic violator must settle their fines through the MMDA’s various payment channels.
