Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has instructed the Ministry of Transport to consider the Central Road Maintenance Fund’s proposal to halt collection of road maintenance fee on motorbikes from next January and report to the Prime Minister before September 15.

According to the Road Maintenance Fund, the fee collection has been very difficult and low effective after two years of implementation.

The toll's revenue accounted for 21 percent of plan in 2013 and 2014 and continued reducing in the first half this year to reach only 6.71 percent of the year’s plan.

The fund has attributed the issue to asynchronous collection organization in wards and communes. They have worked in their own ways to manage motorbike number and contribute the toll revenue to the state budget.

Besides, sanctions on those not paying the fee as per Circular 133 issued by the Ministry of Finance last year were unfeasible and uncontrollable because penalization has come under the jurisdiction of tax agencies, inspectors from authorized departments and local people’s committees, not police force.

Some provinces and cities have collected the fee but some others such Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang city and Khanh Hoa province have yet to do so causing unfair condition.

HCM City against fees for motorbikes

The HCM City People's Council would scrap the motorbike fee if it had the right to do so, its chairwoman told the House on Tuesday during a discussion on the controversial annual fee.

Nguyen Thi Quyet Tam had also expressed opposition to the fee at a recent National Assembly session.

"Although we had a lot of doubts, the People's Council has issued a resolution saying the Government's decree should be followed," Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted her as saying at the meeting city.

"[So] now the most important thing is how we can collect and effectively use the fee. I trust city residents will comply with the law."

Nguyen Van Dua, a former deputy secretary of the city Party Committee, said collecting the fee is a way to mobilise people's strength.

"We should encourage people to pay the fee because many other provinces that have a lower GDP than HCM City have already collected it.

But Tran Trong Dung, a District 8 delegate, said his voters do not want to pay the fee.

"They already have to pay a lot of fees and charges, and now they have pay more, making it harder for them."

He called for a vote in the House to decide whether or not to collect the fee and how.

Lam Thieu Quan of District 5 said, "I know it is a very tricky issue for the People's Council because if we do not collect the fee, it means we are flouting the law, but if we do we will face failure like other provinces."

He was referring to the fact that in many provinces only a fraction of the motorbike-owning population has paid up.

If the city does go ahead and collect the fee, a special software to clearly monitor the collection and penalties for those who do not pay are essential, he said.

Dang Thi Hong Lien, chairwoman of the District 9 People's Committee, said her district was the first one to start collecting.

In the first stage, it could only get 43,700 out of 84,000 owning motorbikes to even register, she said.

"We collected fees at the ward level, but it was too difficult. Then we have set up a task force to collect during weekends.

"But in a month we could get only VND1.2 billion (US$55,000) from 13,000 motorbike owners."

The district has temporarily stopped collecting because many provinces as well as the transport minister have protested against the fee.

"From our experience, it is very hard to collect the fee and it is not fair if some pay but others do not. Our district will make refunds."

Lam Dinh Chien of District 10 said: "If the whole country has asked not to collect, it is funny for HCM City to start doing it. People complain about what they have to pay already, and we should not burden them more."

SGGP/VNS