We propose that the government stop collecting road maintenance fees from motorcycles.

Following Ho Chi Minh City, many provinces and cities want to abolish road maintenance fees for motorbikes because the revenue collected is insignificant, while it creates additional bureaucracy and costs.

Following a request from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council to the City People's Committee to temporarily suspend road maintenance fees for motorcycles, many localities have also proposed suspending the fee collection, including Hanoi, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa, and Can Tho.

The common paradox highlighted by these provinces and cities is that fee collection faces many difficulties, public disagreement, and low effectiveness. Some localities, such as Hanoi, have had to use their budgets to cover the costs of fee collection.

Da Nang City has decided to stop collecting the fee from July 7th. The reason the Da Nang City People's Council decided to stop collecting the fee and report to the Government is that the people disagree with the decision, the collection of the fee has faced many difficulties, and especially the amount of fees collected has been decreasing year by year.

The Ministry of Transport will propose to the Government to abolish road tolls for motorcycles. Photo: Hoang Ha.

Minister Thang stated that the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance will report to the Government to propose amending Decree No. 18 to stop collecting this fee.

In Can Tho, during interactions with constituents in various districts, people have requested the abolition of road tolls for motorbikes. Therefore, the Can Tho City People's Council is compiling opinions to consider whether or not to continue collecting the toll.

On July 8th, at its 10th session, the Khanh Hoa Provincial People's Council passed a resolution temporarily suspending the implementation of a resolution issued more than two years ago regarding road usage fees for motorcycles in the province.

According to a report by the People's Committee of Khanh Hoa province, the implementation of road usage fees for motorcycles in the locality has faced many difficulties. A large workforce has been mobilized for collection, but the effectiveness has been low. Revenue has decreased gradually over the years, with over 9.7 billion VND collected in 2013, dropping to over 5.4 billion VND in 2014. In the first six months of 2015, only over 650 million VND was collected.

After two years, Hanoi also wants to stop collecting road maintenance fees from motorbikes because in many districts, the percentage retained after collection is insufficient to cover the costs of the collection agency. Some districts have had to use budget funds to cover the expenses.

According to the Hanoi People's Committee, the collection of road maintenance fees for motorcycles in 2013 only reached 14% of the projected amount (55 billion VND out of 378 billion VND). The collection in 2014 only reached 36 billion VND (13.28% of the plan). In the first six months of 2015, Hanoi only collected nearly 3 billion VND, as all the revenue from the districts was retained, while the urban districts were just beginning to implement the statistical work and fee collection.

According to a report by the Economic and Budget Committee of the Hanoi People's Council, Hanoi has to allocate additional budget for road toll collection. Specifically, a survey in Cat Linh ward, Dong Da district (Hanoi) showed that due to its large population and numerous residential areas, the percentage of revenue retained for toll collection is insufficient. Therefore, the Cat Linh ward People's Committee has had to spend additional funds from the budget to cover the costs. Furthermore, the compensation for those directly involved in toll collection is low and lacks motivation.

"Hanoi agrees with Ho Chi Minh City's proposal to abolish road usage fees for motorbikes. Hanoi supports the central government's decision to abolish the regulation on collecting road usage fees for motorbikes," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, Chairwoman of the Hanoi People's Council, on the sidelines of the Hanoi People's Council meeting.

On July 14th, during a meeting with constituents in Hoan Kiem district following the Hanoi City People's Council session, Mr. Nguyen The Thao, Chairman of the Hanoi City People's Committee, stated that the constituents' request to abolish road maintenance fees for motorcycles was entirely justified. Mr. Thao requested that Hanoi's departments and agencies carefully study these proposals to address the constituents' requests in the future.

According to Zing.vn