Transport firms slam road usage fees

Transport firms slam road usage fees

A seminar held by local transport companies in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday was flooded with complaints over the road-use fee policy that the firms say is unreasonable.

Even when their vehicles are not deployed, they are still subject to the road-use fees, which exacerbates the money issues of the transporters, they said.

The fees, ranging from VND7 million to VND12 million per vehicle per year, are required to be paid at local vehicle registries -- government agencies that administer the registration of automobiles.

“I still have to pay such fees for around 50 out of my fleet of 100 vehicles, even though they have been parked dormant for months,” said the director of the Son Ha Co Ltd, after showing attendees a video clip featuring his inactive fleet of trucks.

The complaint was shared by his counterpart at the Tu Huong Co Ltd, who also has to pay fees for his 20 vehicles that have remained unused over the last few months.

The road-use fee policy has been in place for five months, but there is no guidance as to how the unused vehicles should be treated, said Bui Van Quan, chairman of the HCMC Transport Association.

“Many transporters have in fact reduced the number of active vehicles in order to cut expenses, but they still cannot avoid the fees,” he added.

Tran Ngoc Tho, his counterpart at the Tan Thanh Transport Association in Dong Nai, said under the finance ministry’s Circular No.97, the vehicles can be exempted from the road-use fees if they are confirmed by relevant agencies as having stopped operations.

“But the vehicle registry agency, which collects the fees, told me that there is no guidance for this case,” he said.

Toll booth concern

Many transport companies were happy to learn that, along with the road-use fee implementation, the government would remove a number of toll booths on several highways.

But the joy did not last long.

A series of BOT (build – operate – transfer) projects related to the upgrading and expansion of National Highway No.1 have recently begun, which means a number of new BOT toll booths will emerge on the north-south highway.

There will be 21 new BOT toll stations on the highway, according to plans by the Ministry of Transport.

“Toll booths will thus be seen everywhere on the highway, burdening the transport businesses, increasing product prices, and reducing the competiveness of local products,” said Quan, of the HCMC Transport Association.

“The government removed some toll booths, and at the same time approved others,” said Nguyen Ngoc Xuan, chairman of the An Giang Transport Association.

“It’s like you chop down a tree and grow another one, and the road-use fee thus becomes meaningless.”

Another concern is that the BOT projects have gained approval to increase tolls by up to 3.5 times compared to normal rates, according to transporters.

“A road is set to be expanded by 30 percent, but the toll is expected to be doubled,” the director of the Trung Viet transport company said.

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