Regulations on administrative penalties for the act of violating the non-owner vehicle are clearly stated in Decree 100/2019/ND-CP on administrative penalties in the field of Road Traffic and railway, which is currently in effect. The question arises: When is an act considered to be in violation of the "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name" regulation?
What are cases of violating regulations concerning "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name" in Vietnam?
1. What are cases of violating regulations concerning "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name" in Vietnam?
According to current regulations, even the Law on Road Traffic 2008 and the guiding documents do not mention an act specifically called “operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name”. However, as stipulated in Circular 15/2014/TT-BCA and Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, the term “operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name” refers to the failure to complete the process for transferring vehicle registration (to change the name of the vehicle owner in the Vehicle Registration Certificate to one's own name) as required when purchasing, being given, assigned, transferred, or inheriting a property that is a motorcycle, moped, motorbike, motor vehicle, tractor, special-use machine, or similar types of vehicles.
According to Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, vehicles like motorcycles, mopeds, motorbikes, motor vehicles, tractors, special-use machines, and similar types of motor vehicles will be penalized in such cases.
Nevertheless, under Clause 10, Article 80 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, verification to detect the offense of not transferring the vehicle registration of the vehicle owner will only be conducted when individuals or organizations come to the Traffic Police offices to carry out the vehicle registration procedure or during the process of investigating and resolving traffic accidents. The Traffic Police, when performing patrolling and control duties on the road, will not verify and penalize the offense of not completing the vehicle registration transfer procedures (i.e., “operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name”).
Therefore, it can be concluded that only through investigating and resolving traffic accidents or during vehicle registration tasks that the act of not transferring the vehicle registration to one's name in the Vehicle Registration Certificate gets detected when purchasing, being given, assigned, transferred, or inheriting a vehicle will be considered as committing the offense of "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name".
2. Penalty for "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name"
According to Point a, Clause 4, Article 30 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, for owners of motorcycles, mopeds, and similar types of vehicles failing to complete the registration transfer procedures (to change the name of the vehicle owner in the Vehicle Registration Certificate to one's own name) as required when purchasing, being given, assigned, transferred, or inheriting a property that is a motorcycle, moped, or similar types of vehicles, the following fines shall be imposed:
- Individuals may be fined from 400,000 to 600,000 VND.
- Organizations may be fined from 800,000 to 1,200,000 VND.
In addition, Point l, Clause 7, Article 30 of Decree 100/2019/ND-CP stipulates that for owners of motor vehicles, tractors, special-use machines, and similar types of vehicles failing to complete registration transfer procedures (to change the name of the vehicle owner in the Vehicle Registration Certificate to one's own name) as required when purchasing, being given, assigned, transferred, or inheriting a property that is a motor vehicle, tractor, special-use machine, and similar types of vehicles, the following fines shall be imposed:
- Individuals may be fined from 2,000,000 to 4,000,000 VND.
- Organizations may be fined from 4,000,000 to 8,000,000 VND.
Besides the monetary fine, individuals or organizations violating this regulation shall also be required to complete vehicle registration procedures, transfer registration, renew, or revoke the Vehicle Registration Certificate, number plates, Technical Safety and Environmental Protection Certificate according to regulations (except in the case of vehicle confiscation) to remedy the consequences.
From the above analysis, it is essential to understand that driving a vehicle owned by someone else does not necessarily equate to the offense of "operating a vehicle that is not in operator's name".
Le Vy