Landlords will be fined for inflated power rates
In late April 2026, Nguyen Van Dinh, a food factory worker in Nha Be Commune, recounted paying nearly VND600,000 per month for minimal electricity usage. His landlord charged VND4,000 per kWh. Many migrant workers quietly accept these vague, inflated costs to avoid losing their housing.
According to lawyer Tran Duc Phuong from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, while Decree 17/2022 previously penalized landlords for overcharging, the new decree clarifies procedures and maintains high fines ranging from VND20 million to VND30 million. The regulation focuses strictly on landlords who purchase electricity at residential rates but resell it to tenants at higher prices.
Landlords are not utility businesses; they simply sign the primary power trading contract and distribute the electricity. Often, they raise prices to offset communal costs like hallway lighting or water pumps.
While illegal overcharging has decreased, it now appears in disguised forms. Some landlords use uncertified sub-meters that record higher usage than actual consumption. To combat this, authorities must fully enforce compliance checks on all individual tenant sub-meters.
Crackdown on electricity theft
Illegal power tapping and meter tampering remain common at rental units, construction sites, and roadside stalls. These actions cause massive grid losses and pose severe safety hazards.
Decree 133/2026/ND-CP tightens enforcement with explicit penalties:
· All forms of electricity theft: Fines range from VND4 million to VND20 million, alongside mandatory compensation for stolen power.
· General power utilization violations: Fines range from VND3 million to VND80 million depending on severity.
· Using uncertified or uncalibrated meters: Fines range from VND10 million to VND14 million to curb loop-hole exploitation.
Lawyer Tran Duc Phuong noted that power companies must run targeted inspections, monitor grid data, and analyze high-risk groups to calculate specific damages without disrupting compliant customers. He added that administrative fines alone have limited impact, meaning authorities must evaluate real-world effectiveness to design better preventative measures.
Stricter control over renewable energy
Decree 133/2026/ND-CP marks the first time that renewable energy development, particularly rooftop solar and wind energy, is placed under tight administrative management. The Government continues to encourage renewable energy, but installations must carry legal accountability, match national planning, and guarantee grid safety to avoid past boom-and-bust issues.
Self-produced, self-consumed solar setups tied to the national grid without proper registration or compliance will face official warnings or administrative fines. Furthermore, large-scale solar and wind projects that fail to dismantle equipment after expiration or violate investment commitments face fines up to VND90 million.
