Vehicle owners in Vietnam may soon be able to pick their own license plate number instead of having one randomly assigned to them, according to a draft of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety proposed by the Ministry of Public Security.

The draft law, submitted by the Ministry of Public Security to the government last month, included some new clauses that address the issuing of license plate numbers for motor vehicles.

Currently, all license plate numbers in Vietnam are picked randomly via the vehicle registration agency’s system when the owner registers their new vehicle.

In the proposed bill, however, apart from this existing choice, vehicle owners also have the option to choose a preferred license plate number based on their own liking for a certain fee.

They can even bid for a ‘good’ license plate number in auctions held for in-demand numbers.

In some popular Vietnamese beliefs, there are ‘good’ numbers that can bring health and wealth to the owner such as ‘8’, ‘6’, ‘86’, ‘68’, and more.

Many vehicle owners are willing to pay a fortune for ‘lucky’ license plates containing such numbers.

To facilitate these new proposed rules, the Ministry of Public Security suggested setting up an online auction panel to handle the process of issuing automobiles’ registration plates.

Those who successfully bid for a license plate number will be exempt from registration fees related to the issuing of that plate.

The new draft law also listed situations when someone can be refused vehicle registration, one of which is when the owner fails to produce adequate legal documents relating to both the owner and the vehicle.

The authority can refuse to register or issue a license plate if the vehicle’s VIN (vehicle identification number) and/or engine number has been destroyed or damaged.

Vehicles with license plate areas that are not easily visible will also be denied registration, according to the draft law.

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