Is it fair that people in new wards and communes merging into Vinh City are not exempt from tolls on Ben Thuy 1 Bridge?

People are upset

Recently, the information that the Vietnam Road Administration has issued a document announcing no price reduction or free toll collection at Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station for vehicle owners with permanent residence and headquarters in 11 wards and communes newly merged into Vinh City has made many people angry.

Mr. Dinh Van An, residing in Nghi Hoa ward - one of the 7 wards of Cua Lo town that was recently merged into Vinh city on December 1, 2024, said: "Since the merger into Vinh city, we have basically fulfilled our obligations as city citizens. However, when we brought our personal documents and vehicle documents to Ben Thuy 1 toll station to complete the free bridge crossing procedure, it was not accepted. The refusal to waive the fee through Ben Thuy 1 toll station for us (that is, the people who were newly merged into Vinh city - PV) is discriminatory and unfair."

Many residents of the newly merged wards and communes into Vinh City have spoken out against this discriminatory policy from the Vietnam Road Administration. Especially residents of Nghi Phong and Nghi Thai communes, which are close to the center of Vinh City and close to Ben Thuy Toll Station 1, even closer than many communes of Hung Nguyen District (one of the districts exempted from tolls through Ben Thuy Toll Station 1).

Mr. Nguyen Van Hop, resident of Nghi Thai commune, said: "The merger into Vinh city is a policy from the higher level. When becoming citizens of the city, people also have higher responsibilities and obligations towards the State. The fact that Hung Hoa commune, Nghi Duc ward... are exempt from fees, while Nghi Thai commune, located next to it, is not, will be a great disadvantage for the people."

Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Van Luc - Chairman of Nghi Thai Commune People's Committee said: Regarding this issue, at a number of meetings with the City People's Committee, Mr. Luc also expressed his opinion and said that it is necessary to ensure legitimate benefits for the people. Because as a citizen of the city, one person cannot enjoy preferential treatment while another person does not.

Mr. Luc also added that currently, not counting family cars, in Nghi Thai commune there are about 30 cars running taxi service, if one trip across Ben Thuy 1 bridge costs 46,000 VND, then it certainly cannot compete in price with cars that have been exempted from the bridge fee.

Unfair?

According to our investigation, the origin of this incident is that on December 17, 2024, Cienco4 Group sent Document No. 13711/TD-TC to the Vietnam Road Administration requesting not to reduce prices for vehicle owners with permanent residence, organizations and enterprises with headquarters in 11 wards and communes merged into Vinh City from December 1, 2024, with the reason that it will reduce revenue, leading to the financial plan of the BOT project not being guaranteed, and the project enterprise losing financial balance. Besides, when merged into Vinh City, these wards and communes will not change the geographical distance from Ben Thuy Toll Station 1.

After receiving the document from Cienco4 Group, on January 17, 2025, the Vietnam Road Administration issued Document 372/CDBVN-TC to the People's Committees of Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces and Cienco4 Group, commenting on the reduction of road service fees at Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station. This document clearly states: The Vietnam Road Administration received Document 13711/TD-TC from Cienco4 Group on the reduction of road service fees at Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station for vehicle owners in the newly merged area of ​​Vinh City.

After considering the opinion of Cienco4 Group, based on the report on the implementation of road service price reduction at Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station; implementing the documents of the Ministry of Transport on handling the shortcomings in road service price levels at BOT stations; regulations on management of road service prices of road construction investment projects for business purposes, managed by the Central Government, the Vietnam Road Administration agreed not to implement road service price reduction for vehicles of owners with permanent residence, organizations and enterprises with headquarters in 7 wards and 4 communes newly imported into Vinh City.

Vietnam Road Administration also requested Cienco4 Group, BOT branch of Vinh City bypass (Project Enterprise), based on the Project Contract, directives of the Ministry of Transport and current regulations to coordinate with local authorities to increase information, propaganda, and answers for vehicle owners to understand and comply with the regulations of the State and the Project.

In addition, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces were also requested to direct relevant provincial, district, town and city authorities to support the dissemination of State and Project regulations, handle procedures for confirming people's personal information, and confirm the list of vehicles eligible for discounts at Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station according to Document No. 3924/BGTVT-DTCT dated April 13, 2017 of the Ministry of Transport.

It is known that Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station is the place where many people gathered to protest because they thought that they did not use the Vinh city bypass but still had to pay the toll when crossing the bridge in 2017. After that, the authorities and the investor agreed to reduce 100% of the toll through Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station for vehicle owners with permanent residence, headquartered in Vinh City, Hung Nguyen District (Nghe An Province) and Hong Linh Town, Nghi Xuan District (Ha Tinh Province), from April 24, 2017. Since then, there has been no new guidance document from the authorities on adjusting the subjects exempted from the toll through Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station.

Mr. Le Sy Chien - Vice Chairman of Vinh City People's Committee said: The city understands that the bidding documents for the BOT project were implemented before the administrative boundary expansion. However, the city wants people in the same administrative unit (including newly merged ones) to enjoy the same policies.

Obviously, the merger of 11 new wards and communes into Vinh City is in accordance with Resolution No. 1243/NQ-UBTVQH15 on the arrangement of district-level and commune-level administrative units of Nghe An province for the period 2023-2025, approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on October 24, 2024. This is the basis for determining that the people of these wards and communes are residents of Vinh City. However, is it appropriate to apply different fee collection regulations when they are all city residents?

Many opinions also said that this action will easily cause difficulties for the administrative boundary merger in the future, at the same time, creating a wave of protests from local people. To solve this problem, it requires relevant parties, especially the People's Committee of Vinh City and representatives of the management unit of Ben Thuy 1 Toll Station, to have a meeting to discuss solutions, to ensure the rights of the people and avoid negative issues that disrupt security and order in the area.