MPS is collecting public opinions on a draft circular regulating the management, operation and use of data management, from dashcams to vehicle drivers’ image recordings.

The circular, once approved, will be applied to transport firms, coach stations, and monitoring service providers and agencies, organizations and individuals related to dashcams and drivers’ image recording nationwide.

Dashcams are installed in a car to transmit information about itineraries, speed, driving information and stop times.

The driver’s image recording device is mounted inside the cabin, which has the function of recording videos, images, and sounds related to drivers and transmitting them to servers.

As such, transport firms transmit drivers’ sounds, not just images from cameras as before.

The 2008 Road Traffic Law stipulates that passenger transport firms with nine seats or more and container vehicles must be equipped with dashcams. It is estimated that there are 200,000 vehicles used for passenger transport nationwide, which will be covered by the new circular.

However, the 2024 Road Traffic Law, to take effect from January 1, 2024, says in addition to transport service companies, internal transport vehicles must have dashcams.

This means that with the draft circular, there would be more subjects to be covered by the regulation on mandatory dashcams. Thus, more than 200,000 cars would have to install dashcams.

The new regulation has raised concerns. Do Van Bang, chair of the Hanoi Transport Association, said one new camera valued at VND5.8 million would need to be installed and it would cost VND1.2 million for data transmission. This would be a major additional cost for transport firms.

Nguyen Van Quyen, chair of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, while advocating the MPS proposal, said it is necessary to consider costs to implement the regulation, including expenses on devices, transmission lines and data integration center.

The draft circular says the frequency of data transmission from the camera to the service unit's server is 30 seconds per transmission. The current required frequency is 3-5 minutes per transmission.

Quyen warned that with the newly proposed frequency, the volume of data will be too large, which will force transport firms to pay more.

“In general, if the watchdog agency attempts to set new requirements, it needs to anticipate the additional expenditure to comply with the laws, as well as review the effects of the new regulation,” Quyen said. 

Vu Diep