3 notes about traffic accounts, car owners need to know

In recent days, information related to traffic accounts has attracted the attention of people, especially those who own cars. Accordingly, vehicle owners are required to switch from the previous toll collection account (ePass, VETC) to a traffic account to circulate through non-stop toll stations. However, many people still do not fully understand the information about traffic accounts, which may affect their travel in the future.

Here are three things to know about traffic accounts.

Effective Date

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 31, Decree 119/2024/ND-CP, car owners must convert from their current toll collection account to a traffic account, linked to a non-cash payment method before October 1, 2025. This is an important milestone, users need to convert if they want to travel through non-stop toll stations (ETC) nationwide.

In fact, the conversion process has been implemented since October 1, 2024, meaning that people and businesses have 1 year to complete the conversion to traffic accounts. The management agency said that after the above time, vehicles that have not converted will not be able to use the non-stop toll collection service, which means they will not be able to circulate through toll stations.

Currently, the country has about 6.3 million cars with non-stop toll collection tags, but only about 30% of them have converted to traffic accounts. Thus, there are still more than 4 million vehicles that need to complete the conversion before October 1, 2025.

Other transport accounts ePass and VETC

Many people mistakenly think that the traffic account is the toll account on the ePass or VETC application. However, these two types of accounts are completely different in many aspects.

Toll collection accounts are regulated in Decision 19/2020, mainly serving the purpose of non-stop toll collection. This type of account contains pre-deposited money, is not required to be linked to a payment source and does not charge interest. Users can deposit through many forms such as e-wallets, banks or transaction counters.

Meanwhile, the traffic account is in the name of the vehicle owner, has full identification information such as full name, date of birth, personal identification code and must be linked to a legal means of payment such as a bank account or credit card. Unlike toll accounts, traffic accounts do not contain money, only operate through linked funds.

Each traffic account is only allowed to be linked to a single source of funds. Vehicle owners must ensure that they maintain a balance in the source of funds each time they pass through a toll station.

No money in traffic account, will I be fined when going through toll station?

According to current regulations, if the vehicle owner does not have a valid traffic account or the account does not meet payment conditions, the vehicle will not be allowed to pass through the ETC toll station. However, up to now, there has been no direct administrative sanction for the act of not converting or not having money in the traffic account.

However, the Vietnam Road Administration said it is developing and proposing amendments to Decree 168/2024/ND-CP to add penalties for violations related to traffic accounts, especially in cases of deliberately driving without meeting the conditions for electronic payment. If approved, not having money in the account or not converting it may result in penalties.