Several new policies will take effect from August 1st; citizens should be aware of them.

Non-stop toll collection on all highways

In Notice No. 186/TB - VPCP, the Government Office requested the Ministry of Transport and local authorities to focus on directing investors to complete the installation of the remaining toll lanes before July 31st to implement synchronized electronic toll collection nationwide from August 1st, 2022; including the implementation of fully automated toll collection on all expressways.

Electronic toll collection (ETC) will be implemented on all highways nationwide starting August 1st. Photo: Gia Binh

Therefore, from August 1st, all expressways nationwide will simultaneously abandon manual toll collection and switch to using a system.automatic toll collection.

Therefore, to travel on expressways, vehicles will have to install terminal tags, i.e., affix automatic toll collection tags - ETC.

In cases where a vehicle without an ETC tag intentionally enters the highway, or a vehicle with an automatic toll collection tag but with insufficient funds in its toll account to pay the toll when using the ETC lane and still intentionally enters, the driver will be fined 2-3 million VND and have their driver's license suspended for 1-3 months (Point c, Clause 4 and Point b, Clause 11, Article 5, Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, amended by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP).

Eliminating Foreign Language and Computer Skills Certificates for Some Civil Servants and Public Employees

August 2022 also marked the official effective date of many new circulars, adjusting the professional title standards for some civil servants and public employees.

Previously, many ministries and agencies issued circulars on standards for civil servants and public employees. Notably, most of these documents removed the requirement for foreign language and computer skills training for civil servants and public employees, including: teachers, administrative and clerical civil servants; civil servants in civil enforcement; public employees in the cultural heritage sector; market management civil servants; public employees in the health sector; accounting, tax, and customs civil servants; library staff; public employees in the information technology and information security sector; sound engineers, broadcasters, film editors, and cameramen in the Information and Communication sector; and public employees in the grassroots culture sector...

Setting salary coefficients for civil servants in certain sectors.

According to Circular 02/2022/TT-BVHTTDL, from August 15th, civil servants specializing in libraries will have their salary coefficients set between 1.86 and 7.55.

Withbase salaryWith the current salary being 1.49 million VND/month, the salary of library staff will range from 2,771,400 VND to 11,249,500 VND.

Also from August 15th, the salaries of civil servants specializing in Information Technology and Information Security will be implemented according to the regulations in Circular 08/2022/TT-BTTTT. Accordingly, these civil servants will be subject to a salary coefficient ranging from 1.86 to 8.00. Correspondingly, the salary paid to civil servants specializing in Information Technology and Information Security will range from VND 2,771,400 to VND 11,920,000.

Also from August 2022, civil servants specializing in grassroots culture are also classified according to the new regulations in Circular 03/2022/TT-BVHTTDL, effective from August 25, 2022. According to this circular, grassroots culture civil servants have a salary coefficient ranging from 1.86 to 6.38, equivalent to a salary of VND 2,771,400 to VND 9,506,200.

Withdrawing a portion of your savings before maturity still entitles you to high interest rates.

From August 1st, Circular 04/2022/TT-NHNN has amended many regulations related to the application of the law.Interest rate for early withdrawal of depositsAt credit institutions and branches of foreign banks, compared to before, the aim is to ensure the rights of depositors.

Accordingly, the new circular clarifies the concept of early withdrawal of deposits as the case where a customer withdraws part or all of their deposit before the maturity date, payment date, or settlement date of the deposit.

Withdrawing savings before maturity still earns high interest. Photo: Ngoc Thang

If customers withdraw their deposits before maturity, they will receive the following interest rates:

• Early withdrawal of the entire deposit: The maximum interest rate applied will be equal to the lowest non-term deposit interest rate of the credit institution, based on the customer type and/or the currency of the deposit.
• Partial early withdrawal of deposit:

For deposits withdrawn before maturity: The maximum interest rate applied will be equal to the lowest non-term deposit interest rate of the credit institution, based on the customer type and/or the currency of the deposit.

Remaining deposit: The interest rate applicable to the deposit that the customer partially withdraws before maturity will be applied.

Therefore, if a customer withdraws a portion of their time deposit before maturity, only the withdrawn portion will be subject to the lowest non-term interest rate, while the remaining deposit will still be subject to the current interest rate applied by the bank.

Meanwhile, according to current regulations, customers are not allowed to withdraw only a portion of their deposit; they must withdraw the entire savings account. Once the entire deposit is withdrawn, the customer will only receive interest at the maximum rate offered by that bank, which is the lowest non-term deposit interest rate.

As can be seen, compared to the old regulations, the method of calculating interest when withdrawing a portion of a deposit before maturity has helped savers avoid losses significantly.

Failure to sort waste is punishable by a maximum fine of 1 million VND.

From August 25th, according to Government Decree 45/2022/ND-CP regulating administrative penalties in the field of...environmentThe regulations stipulate a fine of 500,000 to 1,000,000 VND for households and individuals who fail to sort household solid waste according to regulations; and who do not use the prescribed packaging for household solid waste.

Trash surrounds the canal. Photo: Bich Ngan

Furthermore, Article 8 of Decree 45 also adds a provision that images and videos provided by citizens will be used to penalize administrative violations in the field of environmental protection (including littering).

In addition, Decree 45 also adds many more violations in the field of environmental protection that will be subject to penalties in the near future, such as:

• The act of burning crop by-products outdoors near residential areas, airports, and major transportation routes is punishable by a fine of 2.5 to 3 million VND (according to Clause 1, Article 40 of Decree 45/2022/ND-CP).
• The act of discharging foul-smelling substances into the environment exceeding technical standards for waste by less than 1.1 times in cases of repeated offenses or multiple administrative violations is punishable by a fine of 1 to 3 million VND (Point b, Clause 1, Article 20, Decree 45/2022/ND-CP).
• The act of leaking or discharging toxic chemicals into the soil and water environment in violation of environmental protection regulations is punishable by a fine of 40-50 million VND (according to Clause 1, Article 24, Decree 45/2022/ND-CP).

From August 1st, many new regulations and policies will come into effect. The regulations mentioned above, in particular, will significantly affect the majority of the population.