At a meeting with Vietnam Automobile Transportation Association on Friday, several businesses protested against a new proposal by the Ministry of Transport to implement an annual ownership fee on private vehicles.
According to an ordinance of the National Assembly Standing Committee, a fee is the amount of money that an individual or an organisation pays for services provided by another individual or organisation.
Hence the private vehicle ownership fee proposed by the Ministry of Transport does not in any way comply with the ordinance, they said.
Car owners will have to pay upto VND20-50 million a year, even though they will not enjoy any extra benefits or service.
Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the Association said that it is wrong to list all automobiles with nine seats or less, in the category of private vehicles.
For instance, taxis, company cars or those used by driving schools should not be listed as private. These businesses and organisations have already paid for their operating licenses, and an extra annual charge of VND20-50 million seems unfair.
Nguyen Van Thanh, former deputy head of the Vietnam Road Directorate said that ownership fee will hike freight rates, especially in the taxi business, and subsequently affect society.
Mr. Thanh said that if the Government decides to collect road maintenance fee, they should not charge private vehicle ownership fee as well, as this would be an unreasonable cost.
Although public and transport associations have expressed their disagreement with the Ministry of Transport’s proposal, the ministry still plans to charge the fee as scheduled.
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