The Ministry of Transport and other relevant ministries and agencies have finally agreed that the Road Maintenance Fund be collected mainly from vehicle fees.
This fund will exclude petrol tariffs, which, it is hoped, will avoid overlapping fees.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the final draft proposal submitted to the Prime Minister for ratification proposed two options:
In the first option, the Road Maintenance Fund would mainly be based on fees imposed on vehicles, including motorbikes and cars. The fee, which will be collected monthly, would be based the class of vehicle. Cars would be divided into 7 groups based on the amount of passengers they can accommodate, with fees ranging from VND 180,000-1,440,000 a month. Motorbikes would be divided into 4 classes, with attached fees from VND 80,000-150,000 a year.
The second option would see the fund receive fees via car owners and petrol sales. Similarly, under this plan, cars using petrol would be placed in on of 7 classes. They would have to pay fees ranging from VND 180,000-1,440,000 a month. The fees for those using diesel would be 50% higher.
The second option, however, may pose some possible problems, as collecting petrol tariffs could affect the consumers price index, and would pose unfair treatment for those that use petrol on purposes not involving road vehicles. As a result, the ministries have agreed to choose to propose the first option.
The ministries participating in drafting this project said that if the first option is approved by the prime minister, and the state budget for the fund remains the same as before, the fund will be able to cover 80% of current expenses for road maintenance. After two years of operation, contributions for maintenance from the state budget could be gradually reduced. After 12, it is expected, the fees collected would be able to cover all maintenance expenses.
The ministries also agreed that fee collection for motorbikes will be managed by at the local level.
Meanwhile, fees for cars will be sent to the central fund of which 65% will be spent on maintaining national roads and 35% would be given to localities road maintenance budgets.
The final draft will be sent to the PM for approval this month.
Source: dtinews.vn