VietNamNet Bridge – Both vehicle owners and fee collectors are encountering difficulties in the past nearly two weeks since road-use fees were imposed on all motor vehicles.

The annual fees, to be eventually collected from owners of all motor vehicles, are intended to provide funds for road maintenance pursuant to a Government decree that took effect on January 1.

The Ministry of Transport reported collecting nearly VND70 billion (U$3.3 million) from 30,000 vehicles during the first week. The fees were initially only collected from automobile owners, as motorbike owners are waiting on local People's Committees to establish fee collection methods.

The director of the Department of Transport in the northern province of Ha Nam, Nguyen Van Khoai, said his department had only just finalised a fee-collection plan and submitted it to the provincial People's Committee for consideration.

The director of the transport department in the northern province of Phu Tho, Pham Ngoc Hoa, said the province intended to establish a council to manage the road maintenance fund before implementing other procedures.

Specific rates for motorbike owners were also waiting on approval from the provincial People's Council in its next session, Hoa said, adding that even the lowest rate of VND50,000 set under the decree for motorbike owners would not be collected before February.

Local authorities in the central city of Da Nang also said they had not yet received any guidance from higher-level authorities on procedures for collecting the fees.

In Ha Noi, home to around 4.4 million motorbikes, road-use fees have not yet been applied to motorbike owners.

The municipal People's Committee continues to prepare a fee collection plan for the municipal People's Council's approval, and potential fee collectors at the commune- and ward-level meanwhile lack any guidance from higher authorities.

The chief of the secretariat of Ha Nam Province's fund management council, Nguyen Van Dung, said local fee collectors in the province also felt confused about the new scheme and were waiting on written fee collection and payment guidelines, expected later this month.

Ha Noi Transport Association chairman Bui Danh Lien admitted that initial collection of the fees would depend on vehicle owners' self-awareness since no mechanism was in place to punish vehicle owners who don't pay.

Under the decree governing the road-use fee scheme, motorbike owners will be required to pay VND50-100,000 per year for motorbikes with engine capacity of less than 100cc and VND100-150,000 for those with capacity of 100cc or more.

Meanwhile, there are 11 rates for cars. Private vehicles with fewer than 10 seats will be charged about VND1.5 million ($70) a year, while trucks and commercial vehicles over 27 tonnes will be required to pay VND12.5 million ($595). Fee rates would decrease in subsequent years.

Around 35 million motorbikes and 1.5 million cars are registered nationwide.

Source: VNS