Nghe An: Chaos over parking fees at temples and pagodas at the beginning of the year

Parking fees are always a matter of concern for people. After Tet, people from inside and outside the province flock to famous places and historical sites to enjoy spring and pray for good luck. Visitors here must park their vehicles and obviously pay a fee. However, it is worth mentioning that the price for this service varies from place to place and the fee collection is also very unclear.

Although there is a large parking lot, visitors to Ong Hoang Muoi Temple still have to park on the street at a price of 20,000 VND/time. Photo: PB

At Ong Hoang Muoi Temple (Hung Thinh Commune, Hung Nguyen), there is a parking lot thousands of square meters wide.²But some women still stood outside guiding customers to park their cars outside. When customers entered the parking lot, no one came to take their tickets.

However, as soon as the bus left the gate, a woman approached and asked for 20,000 VND. The passenger asked for a ticket, so the woman called in and asked for a ticket. The passenger asked for a return ticket for his boss, but the woman surprisingly stopped giving him a ticket and did not take the bus fare, much to the passenger's surprise.

Continued to park the vehicle outside, when asked for a ticket, a woman gave an old ticket without a ticket number and collected 20,000 VND. Also at this temple, on February 16, the ticket price was 25,000 VND but on February 22 it was only 20,000 VND. For motorbikes, the women working here collect 5,000 VND/trip.

Customers who park their cars here are given a ticket like this. Photo: PB

A few days earlier, this temple issued tickets worth 25,000 VND. Photo: PB

A similar situation occurred at the Quang Trung Emperor Temple parking lot in Trung Do Ward, Vinh City. When customers entered the parking lot, no one came to take their tickets, but when the car was about to leave the parking lot, a man came out to collect money but did not give the customer a ticket.

When the customer paid 15,000 VND and asked for the ticket, the answer was, “because it was raining” so the ticket was not given out but the ticket was still there. Looking at the ticket, although it had a stamp, it had no date, no license plate number…

The parking ticket at Emperor Quang Trung Temple was given when a customer "requested" it. Photo: PB

At the Hong Son Temple parking lot (Hong Son Ward, Vinh City), each car with less than 7 seats entering the temple yard must pay 10,000 VND/turn. However, the parking attendants here do not record or give tickets to customers. When asked, the man collecting the money said that the vehicles entering and exiting are only recorded in the book and do not have tickets.

According to Decision 80/QD-UBND in December 2016 of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee, the parking fee for motorbikes and two-wheeled cars in Vinh City and lowland and mountainous districts is 3,000 VND/time. Cars with 7 seats or less are charged no more than 10,000 VND/time, cars with more than 7 seats but less than 16 seats, trucks and specialized vehicles with a load capacity of less than 3.5 tons are charged no more than 15,000 VND/time.

For high-quality parking lots and points, the service conditions are higher than those of normal parking lots (with solid buildings, surveillance cameras, fire and explosion protection) and parking lots and points at scenic spots, historical sites, cultural works where visitors often need to park their vehicles for many hours, the maximum parking price is not more than 2 times the parking price specified in Clause 1, Article 2 of this Decision.

According to regulations, the price of car parking services collected from services invested by the State using state budget capital: Organizations and units assigned by the State to manage car parking services must collect correctly and fully according to the prescribed price and pay taxes according to current regulations of the State.

Motorbikes are parked right in front of the temple gate. Photo: PB

In addition, the price of car parking service collected from services invested by non-state budget capital is a revenue of organizations and individuals. Organizations and individuals must collect the price according to the above regulations and pay taxes according to current regulations of the State.

Comparing the above regulation with the way of collecting parking fees at Ong Hoang Muoi Temple, Hong Son Temple, and Emperor Quang Trung Temple, many people ask, who manages the revenue from parking fees here? Will the revenue from parking fees be paid correctly and fully according to regulations when the people who collect money here do not write tickets, or the tickets do not follow the prescribed form?