Buses at a bus station in Hanoi amid the COVID-19 pandemic (Photo: tienphong.vn)

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The said the ministry would propose the Ministry of Finance consider the maintenance fee exemption for transport enterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the past three months.

The move was considered a supportive policy to help enterprises hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak to overcome financial difficulties and resume operations.

Those who were granted badges and signs by the departments of transport would be eligible for the policy, he said.

The said he has asked the Directorate for Roads of Vietnam and the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association to urgently work with localities and transport enterprises to synthesise data and analyse and assess their losses during the pandemic.

Based on the estimated losses, the two units would propose a plan to reduce road use charges for the three months of March, April and May.

The task must be completed and reported to the ministry before May 15.

The ministry would consider the plan and propose it to the Ministry of Finance for approval, he said.

Last month, the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association sent a petition to the Government and the Ministry of Transport to ask for supportive measures to exempt road use fees for enterprises forced to halt operations.

The association asked commercial banks to support a 50 percent reduction of loan interest rates for April, May and June, apply a preferential interest rate which did not exceed 6 percent per year for businesses, reschedule debts within 6-12 months for businesses, and continue to lend with preferential interest rates for enterprises to resume their operation.

It said enterprises and labourers should be exempt from paying social and health insurance and unemployment insurance until June.

It also said the road maintenance fees should be exempted until this December. Other additional parking fees at airports and bus stations should be free.

The association proposed to reduce 50 percent of registration fees for newly registered vehicles, which should be applied until the end of this year./.VNS