From November 1st, many types of vehicles will be exempt from road tolls.

Good news for many businesses and citizens: from November 1st, many types of vehicles will be exempt from or have reduced road usage fees. The new regulation has eased difficulties for transport businesses and citizens and is more in line with the operating conditions of vehicles.

The vehicle registration authority does not issue registration stickers for vehicles that operate solely on internal roads (and are not required to pay road usage fees).

Three vehicle categories are exempt from fees.

According to Circular No. 133 of the Ministry of Finance, effective from November 1, 2014, in addition to the five categories of vehicles currently exempt from road tolls (ambulances, fire trucks, funeral vehicles, specialized vehicles for national defense, and vehicles for security), three more groups of civilian vehicles will be exempt from tolls.

The types of vehicles mentioned above include: Vehicles whose registration certificates and license plates have been revoked (due to accidents, natural disasters, confiscation by authorities, etc.); Commercial vehicles belonging to cooperatives and transport businesses that have been temporarily suspended from operation for 30 days or more; Vehicles that do not participate in traffic or use roads belonging to the road transport system but are only used within the land managed by the enterprise or cooperative, such as railway stations, ports, mining areas, agricultural and forestry areas, and vehicles used for driving tests by vocational training organizations.

"The implementation of the new circular is also expected to face difficulties, especially in monitoring at the local level. One of the reasons is that the Department of Transport still has the same number of staff, but must also inspect and monitor vehicles applying for road toll exemptions, while not being allocated the necessary funds."

In addition, the new regulations also eliminate fees for trailers and semi-trailers, only charging the tractor unit plus the permitted towing weight. For buses, the fee has also been reduced, bringing it down to a level equivalent to that of passenger cars with fewer than 9 seats…

According to Mr. Than Van Thanh, Vice President of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association: "The new regulations have addressed previous shortcomings that many transport businesses had raised, aligning with the actual operation of vehicles and creating favorable conditions for businesses in production and trade."

Mr. Vo Thanh Binh, Head of the Finance Department (Vietnam Registering Agency), said that the Vietnam Registering Agency has issued a document guiding motor vehicle registration units nationwide on the new contents of road toll collection. This includes requiring the public posting of regulations on cases where vehicles are exempt from paying fees, and the procedures for refunding or offsetting fees. For example, for vehicles exempt from paying fees due to revocation of registration certificates, the fee will be refunded within three working days at the latest (provided all necessary documents are available).

The road maintenance fund has decreased by one trillion VND.

Mr. Dang Tran Khanh, Deputy Head of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department (Vietnam Registering Agency) - the unit assigned to collect road usage fees for automobiles - stated: "As of the end of September 2014, there were nearly 1,793,000 automobiles in circulation nationwide. Because the vehicle management software system has not yet categorized vehicles according to their operating areas, the exact number of vehicles that will be exempt from road usage fees is unknown."

However, according to Mr. Vo Thanh Binh, after the new circular comes into effect, the number of road usage fees exempted or reduced for vehicles could account for 20-30% of the 2014 plan, equivalent to approximately one trillion VND. This will reduce the revenue of the Central Road Maintenance Fund but will help many transport businesses alleviate difficulties, especially those transporting goods and passengers by bus.

"For example, a 30-ton truck that is exempt from road tolls will no longer have to pay 12,480,000 VND/year. Or a 40-seat bus, which currently pays 7,080,000 VND/year, will have its fee reduced to just 2,160,000 VND/year," Mr. Binh said.

Of the three vehicle categories soon to be exempt from road usage fees, the third category (vehicles operating within internal roads...) accounts for the largest number and is also the easiest for vehicle owners to exploit to evade road usage fees. According to regulations, to qualify for the exemption, vehicle owners must submit an application to the local Department of Transportation for confirmation and forward the confirmed application to the vehicle registration authority. Based on this, the registration authority will not issue an inspection sticker (affixed to the windshield) but only a vehicle registration certificate. When they wish to change their operating area, the vehicle owner must send a document to the Department of Transportation and the vehicle registration authority and pay the fee.

"In theory, this regulation will help prevent vehicles from falsely declaring their operating area, but in reality, without strict control, negative consequences could occur, such as vehicle owners colluding with corrupt individuals to provide inaccurate information," Mr. Binh expressed his concern.

According to hanoimoi