Parking fee payable for alcohol violations

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thai in Tay Mo, Hanoi asked, I have just been fined for violating alcohol concentration and had my vehicle impounded. So, do I have to pay for parking?

Lawyer Nguyen Thu Trang, Hung Dao Thang Long Law Office, said that according to the provisions of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP (amended in Decree 123/2021/ND-CP), all violations of alcohol concentration in traffic, in addition to being punished, can result in the vehicle being temporarily impounded.

Regarding storage costs (warehousing) as prescribed in Decree 138/2021/ND-CP effective from January 1, 2022 on storage costs, wharf costs, and preservation costs of seized exhibits and means of transport as follows:

When coming to receive back seized exhibits and vehicles that are not subject to confiscation, organizations and individuals who violate the law must pay storage costs, wharfage costs, and costs for preserving exhibits and vehicles during the period of detention.

Violating organizations and individuals shall not have to pay storage costs, wharfage costs, and costs for preserving exhibits and means of administrative violation during the time the exhibits and means of administrative violation are temporarily detained if the owner of the exhibits and means of administrative violation is not at fault in the administrative violation or confiscation measures are applied to the exhibits and means of violation or the violating organization or individual is assigned to keep and preserve the means of violation according to regulations;

The agency of the person issuing the decision to temporarily detain the exhibits and means in the case of self-organizing the storage and preservation of the exhibits and means being temporarily detained or the organization hired by the agency of the person issuing the decision to temporarily detain the exhibits and means to store and preserve the exhibits and means shall be paid the storage costs, wharfage costs, and preservation costs of the exhibits and means during the period of temporary detention;

The level of storage costs, wharfage costs, and preservation costs of seized exhibits and vehicles shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of law on prices.

Thus, violators whose vehicles are seized due to alcohol concentration violations are responsible for paying storage costs. The period of temporary detention of exhibits and means of administrative violations is 7 days from the date of temporary detention.

The detention period may be extended for cases with complicated circumstances that require verification, but not more than 30 days.

Regarding vehicle parking (storage) fees, they are stipulated in Circular 85/2019/TT-BTC guiding on fees and charges under the decision-making authority of the People's Councils of provinces and centrally-run cities issued by the Minister of Finance.

Vehicle parking fees vary between provinces and cities. In Hanoi, the parking fee for traffic violations in Hanoi is regulated in Decision 44/2017/QD-UBND, specifically as follows:

The fee for motorbikes and cyclos is 8,000 VND/vehicle/day.

Bicycles, electric bicycles, electric motorbikes, and cyclos are 5,000 VND/vehicle/day.

Cars with up to 9 seats and trucks from 2 tons or less are 70,000 VND/car/day.

Vehicles with 10 seats or more and trucks over 2 tons are 90,000 VND/vehicle/day.

For example, if your motorbike is confiscated for 7 days due to alcohol concentration violations, the storage fee is 8,000 VND X 7 (days) which is 56,000 VND.

If you drive a 4-seater car that violates alcohol concentration and is confiscated for 7 days, the storage fee is 70,000 X 7 (days) which is 490 thousand VND.