High fees to force many people to sell their cars

Although the Ministry of Transport announced on April 1 that new fees on personal vehicles are not yet applied this year, car users raise concern about a high amount of fees they will pay in future.

Mr Linh, from Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, says: “My family has saved money for ten years to buy a car. We’ve thought that it is wonderful to sometimes visit our parents in the countryside in our car. But now we are considering selling it because we may not afford to pay new fees.”

Linh says that he does not use the car daily. The car is sometimes used for his family’s travel from Hanoi to Phu Tho province to visit his parents.

“It is absurd when I have to pay tens of million dong of circulation fee per year. I agree that drivers have to pay road maintenance fee but it is unfair when the fee is the same for all vehicles, for both family cars and business cars,” Linh says.

He says that he buys the car on hire-purchase mode and he cannot afford so many kinds of frees. “We are considering whether we should use or sell our car. But it is highly possible that we will have to sell it. My dream of owning a car has broken!”

Mr Hoa from Doi Can Street, Hanoi, who has owned a car for two years and plans to buy another one for his wife, says that if new fees are imposed, he will not buy a car for his wife and will even have to sell his car.

Hoa reveals that he has to pay at least VND12 million ($600) per month to use the current car, a Santafe, including the parking fee, gasoline, toll, maintenance fee, etc.

“My home is in the city’s centre so I will have to pay fees to come home or leave home during the rush hour, plus tens of million dong of the circulation fee. When the new fees are applied, I will have to pay up to VND70-80 million in fees per year to use my car. I may have to sell my current car to buy a motorbike,” Hoa confides.

Cars flock to the countryside


Except for rich families that have several cars, middle-class families in Hanoi have tried to buy their first cars in recent years. These families favour second-hand or cheap cars, which are not expensive than luxurious motorbikes but can serve up to 4-5 people. These families now lose their mind with the new fees.

Nguyen Thi Bac from Tu Liem district, Hanoi, says: “We bought a very old Matiz at the price of VND80 million ($4,000). We only ride this car to visit our parents in the countryside or in business trips. We cannot afford to buy gasoline to run it often. Now that my husband and I are very worried about new fees to be imposed by the Ministry of Transport in the near future.”

Bac wants to keep the car but does not want to pay the fees, so she decides to take the car to her hometown in Ninh Binh province (only cars in big cities have to pay circulation fee and the fee to get into the downtown during rush hour).

“We will use the car whenever we return home. In Hanoi, we will use cab in necessary cases. There is no better choice than this,” she says.

The Ministry of Transport has suggested collecting the maintenance fee on cars via vehicle registration agency. It means that all cars have to pay the same fee. Vice Chair of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Nguyen Hoang Hiep says that in principle, the more cars run, the higher fee they have to pay but Vietnam is unable to collect fee that way.

Meanwhile, not only vehicle users but experts say that it is irrational to collect personal vehicle restriction fee from motorbike users because motorbikes do not cause traffic jams. Moreover, motorbikes will still be the major means of transport in Vietnam in the next 5-10 years.