Car owners in Hanoi are mulling over plans to sell their vehicles due to rising fees.
Car users will have to face at least three mandatory fees
A local in Hanoi said, "We saved money for a decade to buy this car just to go to our hometown in Phu Tho more freely. We’re still paying the instalments on it. But now we have to pay tens of millions of VND. And that's just the vehicle fee. I agree that we should pay a fee but it has to be reasonable. I guess we’ll have to sell the car soon, we just can't afford it."
Hoa also has trouble with the car fees. He has had his own car for two years and was planning to buy one for his wife. But the threat of increased road use charges has put him off.
"We have to pay for fuel, for parking, for repairs and maintenance. We’re talking about VND12 million (USD574) a month. Now, I have to pay fee to get home during rush hour because my house is in city's centre. Adding all the fees up, I'll have to pay around VND70-80 (USD3,351-3,829) million per year for the car. Not only will I not afford to be able to buy my wife a car, I guess I will also have to sell this one," he said.
Nguyen Thi Bac is also concerned. In order to deal with the new fees and still be able to keep the car, Bac has considered taking her car to the countryside. "My hometown is in Ninh Binh. We'll take the car to my hometown and call a taxi when we're in the city. That's the only way," she said.
Vice chairman of the National Traffic Safety Committee Nguyen Hoang Hiep confirmed the fees would be charged on a per vehicle basis.
The Ministry of Transport said the vehicle fee aims to reduce traffic jams and will be used on transport infrastructure. That's why motorbikes will also have to pay a fee of VND500,000 (USD24) to VND1 million (USD48). However, many people have said the fee for motorbikes is unreasonable because motorbikes are not a major cause of traffic jams.
People worry over the new fees