Despite the proposals from transport associations to reduce and delay the road maintenance fee, the Transport Ministry has requested that the fee be collected from January 1, 2013, and adjustments to the fee rates, if any, can only be made at least 3 months after the date.

>> Maintenance road fee should be delayed: conference>> Road maintenance fee to be collected from June>> Road fee may be delayed until next year >> Hanoi transporters propose road fee be reduced, delayed Transport Deputy Minister Nguyen Hong Truong made the statement at a conference held yesterday on the fee. He also called on transport associations and authorities of provinces and cities not to raise new proposals until after the fee has been put into effect. Under Governmental Decree No. 18, users of motorized vehicles would have had to pay a road maintenance fee from June 1, 2012, but after receivingfeedback from transporting companies and the public, the ministry proposed that the Government delay the fee until January 1, 2013, given that people were facing difficulties in their daily lives due to the troubled economy, Truong said. However, the timing of the fee can not be delayed again, he said. “We have also proposed that the Government make adjustments, if necessary, to the fee rates only after the fee has been collected for at least 3 or 6 months – a period long enough to find unreasonable issues, if any, related to the fee.” As planned, the fee will be collected during vehicle registration cycles, which will be 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, depending on types of vehicles, Truong said. When the fees are applied, all traffic fee stations on national highways whose revenue belongs to the State’s budget will be removed, except for stations set up under BOT traffic infrastructure projects, he said. The specific number of stations to be removed will be announced publicly by December 25, 2012, he added.

A driver pays traffic fee at a tool booth in Ho Chi Minh City (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Motorbike owners pay VND50,000-150,000/year As previously reported, after the Hanoi Transport Association and its counterpart in HCMC strongly requested that the fee rates be reduced, the ministry issued a circular on October 25 to lower them. Accordingly, 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 trucks over 27 tons.

These rates are much lower than those previously proposed by the Transport Ministry: VND180,000 ($8.65) per month for under-12-seat cars and under-2-ton trucks, and the highest rate, VND1.44 million ($69.2) per month, for over-18-ton trucks and 40-foot’ container trucks.

As for motorbikes, under the circular, 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.

Previously, the Transport Ministry had proposed rates of VND80,000-120,000 per year for motorbikes.