Many delegates at a conference on maintenance road fee have requested that the Government delay the fee until some time after January 1, 2013 – the planned effective date of the fee.

>> Lower tolls to be applied from Jan 1, 2013>> Road fee may be delayed until next year>> Hanoi transporters propose road fee be reduced, delayed

The conference was held by the Ho Chi Minh City Transport Association, the Vietnam Freight Forwarders Association, and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday to collect opinions on the fee that will feed the Road maintenance Fund set up under Decree 18 of the Government. Most delegates at the event said the Government should postpone the fee since transporting companies have already “suffered difficulties from the challenged economy and from paying so many taxes and fees.” Many transporters also wanted the fee to be collected through the price of fuels they pay during operation, instead of through the number of means of transport they have. “Collecting the fee via fuel prices is a more reasonable and practical way,” they said. The conference agreed that the Government and concerned agencies should organize an urgent meeting with the Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association to listen to the opinions of transporting companies about the fee. Tran Huy Hien, general secretary of the Vietnamese Forwarding and Warehousing Association, said, “The first sufferers from the fee are transporting businesses, and those that cannot afford the fee can be dissolved. However, it is consumers who will actually suffer from the fee that will surely increase the transport charges of goods and thereby push the prices of goods up.” Under a circular issued by the Finance Ministry on October 25, a minimum rate of VND130,000 (US$6.24) per month will be levied on under-10-seat personal cars, while the highest rate, VND1.04 million ($49.9) per month, will be applied to over-27-ton trucks.

As for motorbikes, users of electric bicycles and motorbikes with 50 - 100 cc engines will pay VND50,000-100,000 per year, while those with engine sizes of over 100 cc will pay VND100,000-150,000 per year.

Based on the rates stipulated by the Finance’s Ministry, local People’s Councils in provinces and cities will determine their own rates that fit their social and economic characteristics.