The Ministry of Transport has asked the Ministry of National Defense for help to cope with excessive workloads at automobile registration and inspection centers, especially those in Hanoi and HCMC.

Recent arrests of registrars have clogged registration centers, leaving them without workers to carry out their duties.

The Traffic Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security yesterday hold a conference related to motor vehicle inspection activities following the proposal of the Ministry of Transport.

As a number of registration centers have been closed to serve the investigation of registrars taking bribes, the remaining centers have become overloaded and vehicles cannot be registered as scheduled.

According to the Vietnam Register, more than 350,000 cars with a date of expiry are unable to have their vehicle registration renewed in March and April.

The newly discovered scandals in registration activities show that solutions are needed to supervise the inspection process to ensure integrity in implementation.

The Vietnam Register on March 6 said that 61 out of 281 automobile registration centers in the country have suspended their operation owing to violations.

Amid a series of recent scandals in vehicle registration, experts have urged changing the registration system, recommending waiving the first inspection of brand new cars, which would help save hundreds of billions of dong for car owners.

The Ministry of Transport has proposed the Ministry of Home Affairs allow Vietnam Register to use contract workers to cope with severe labor shortages at some vehicle registration and testing facilities under the department.

The HCMC police on February 9 searched a branch office of Vietnam Register in Vung Tau City and another in HCMC over their suspected violations of auto inspection and registration regulations.

Registry centers have been found impersonating real registrars, forging signatures, hiring unqualified registrars, and ignoring vehicle errors.

Many vehicle registration centers have become overloaded, and several centers have been closed for investigation.

Eleven out of 31 motor vehicle registration centres have been shut in Hanoi.

The Ministry of Transport has proposed re-opening some of the auto registration and inspection centers which have been suspended due to bribery allegations.

According to the Vietnam Register, 33 vehicle inspection centers in 13 provinces and cities, including 11 centers in Hanoi, have been temporarily closed.

The police of HCMC said yesterday, January 11, that they had detained the head of Vietnam Register, Dang Viet Ha, on alleged charges of taking bribes.

In the last few weeks, the Public Security Departments of various provinces and cities have been inspecting automobile registration centers for law violations.

The bribery and forgery case was discovered after HCM City’s traffic police officers discovered a mismatch between the actual dimensions of a truck and the figures in the database of the registration centre earlier in October.

The Ministry of Public has expanded the ongoing probe into widespread violations at auto inspection centers by searching the Motor Vehicle Inspection Department under Vietnam Register in Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi City.