The People's Committee of the commune arbitrarily collects money from the people illegally.

The People's Committee of Thach Bang Commune, Loc Ha, Ha Tinh Province has set a regulation that both buyers and sellers of land in this commune must pay the commune 3% of the total amount of both buying and selling.

Headquarters of People's Committee of Thach Bang commune, Loc Ha, Ha Tinh.

Mr. NVT, residing in Cuong Gian commune, Nghi Xuan, reported that around June 2016, he bought a piece of land at auction in Thach Bang commune to open a seafood restaurant. However, due to the marine environmental incident, there were few customers, so he had to resell the land he had bought to recover his capital. "When I and the land buyer went to the People's Committee of Thach Bang commune to request confirmation of the documents, the Chairman had signed and went to the one-stop office to stamp, the staff here took us to the accounting officer who forced us to voluntarily pay 10 million VND to the People's Committee of the commune," said Mr. T.

According to Mr. T., accountant of the People's Committee of Thach Bang commune, this amount of money was voluntarily paid by the buyer and seller to the commune to build their hometown. Specifically, the payment is equivalent to 3% of the amount from the value of the sale contract between the two parties. "I questioned how much it was voluntarily, not regulated. Moreover, the land was purchased through auction, not by the government, so the commune set up its own way to collect money, which is not in accordance with regulations," Mr. T. was upset. After three days of waiting at the People's Committee of Thach Bang commune, Mr. T. still did not get a stamp even though the Chairman of the People's Committee of this commune had signed the documents.

Talking to Tien Phong reporter, Chairman of Thach Bang Commune People's Committee Nguyen Duy Binh admitted that this was true. "I just became Chairman so I don't know the details. This has been left behind by the previous generation of leaders. This revenue was proposed by the commune itself, not the district level. I will adjust this in the near future," Mr. Binh said.

When the reporter and Mr. T.’s relatives brought the documents to ask for confirmation, the officer in charge of accounting in Thach Bang commune, Pham Phuc Thanh, explained: “We discussed it with Mr. T. yesterday.” “The 3% fee is set by us to be fair. They bought the land at auction but when they move to the area, they also use the road built by the commune and receive medical treatment at the commune’s clinic,” Mr. Thanh explained. “The commune has been collecting this fee for 7 years now. Some people pay more than the commune People’s Committee’s regulation,” he said.

Speaking to Tien Phong reporter, Vice Chairman of Loc Ha District People's Committee Phan Van Nhan said that the collection of money by Thach Bang Commune People's Committee was set by the commune itself and not the district's policy. "The district has already rectified this matter. We have reminded them many times," said Mr. Nhan.

According to Tien Phong