Car owners may have to pay road maintenance fee

Car owners may have to pay road maintenance fee

QĐND – Tuesday, October 06, 2009, 21:2 (GMT+7)

Owners of automobiles would pay an annual operator’s fee deposited in a road maintenance fund under a draft proposal by the Ministry of Transport.

Under the proposal, car owners would pay an annual operating fee ranging from 1.2 million VND (67 USD) per car, depending on the car’s engine capacity.

The proposal also calls for new one-time-only registration fees for motorbike owners.

The fees would vary according to engine capacity, with 300,000 VND (17 USD) per motorbike of less than 70-100cc.

For motorbikes of 70-100cc capacity, the fee would be 600,000 VND (34 USD); for 100-175cc capacity, 1 million VND ( 56 USD), and for 175cc capacity, 1.5 million VND (84 USD).

All fees would be used for the road maintenance fund as the state budget can only meet 50-60 percent of the demand, according to Le Manh Hung, deputy minister of transport.

Hung said that each 1 USD used to maintain roads would help save 3 USD for vehicle operations and maintenance.

The money collected from the annual car operating fee is expected to reach 1.4 trillion VND (78.65 million USD), and the amount from newly registered motorbikes 2.1 trillion VND (118.14 million USD).

The ministry has also asked the Government to transfer 50 percent of fuel fees, including those charged on air transport, to the road maintenance fund.

The HCM City and Hanoi authorities are proposing a separate operating fee on authors and motorbikes in an aim to reduce traffic congestion, but reports are unclear whether it would be an annual charge.

Source: VNA

Source: QDND