Summary of Prominent Documents in the Fields of Finance and Insurance in Vietnam

1. Update on Circular Guiding the State Budget Index System 2017 in Vietnam

On April 28, 2017, the Prime Minister signed and issued Decision 582/QD-TTg approving the list of especially difficult villages; communes classified into regions I, II, III in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2016 - 2020, abolishing Decisions 447/QD-UBDT dated September 19, 2013, 601/QD-UBDT dated October 29, 2015, and 73/QD-UBDT dated February 29, 2016.

A total of 25,442 villages and communes in 51 provinces and centrally-run cities have been approved by the Prime Minister to be included in the list of especially difficult villages and communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2016 - 2020. Among which:

- 20,176 especially difficult villages.

- 1,935 communes in region III;

- 2,018 communes in region II;

- 1,313 communes in region I.

Decree 49/2017/ND-CP takes effect from April 24, 2017, amending, supplementing Articles 15 of Decree 25/2011/ND-CP and 30 of Decree 174/2013/ND-CP.

Approval of the List of Especially Difficult Villages for the Period 2016 - 2020

Decree 49/2017/ND-CP amends and supplements several regulations in the fields of postal services, telecommunications, information technology, and radio frequency.

Prohibits the purchase, sale, and market circulation of pre-registered SIM cards, pre-activated prepaid mobile services, violations of which will be fined from 30 million to 40 million VND.

Additionally, mobile telecommunications businesses will be fined from 180 million to 200 million VND if:

They fail to store or do not fully store subscriber information as prescribed; They do not review, check subscriber information in the database according to internal processes; They do not connect the enterprise’s centralized subscriber information database to the database of the Ministry of Information and Communications or the Ministry of Public Security; The centralized subscriber information database does not contain full subscriber information fields.

- 04 administrative procedures under the field of social protection;

- 01 administrative procedure in the field of social evils prevention and control.

Fines Up to 40 Million VND for Selling Pre-activated SIM Cards in Vietnam

On May 3, 2017, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs signed Decision 631/QD-LDTBXH announcing the list of administrative procedures not to be handled through public postal services.

No reception of dossiers or return of results through public postal services for 11 administrative procedures requiring direct presence for resolution, including:

- 06 administrative procedures in the field of employment, such as:

Unemployment benefit resolution; Continued unemployment benefit; Employment counseling and introduction support.

This is a notable content in Decision 595/QD-BHXH on the procedures for collecting social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI), unemployment insurance, labor accident, occupational disease insurance, and issuing SI books and HI cards.

From May 1, 2017:

- The maximum time for issuing new SI books (including compulsory and voluntary SI) is reduced to 5 days from the date of receiving complete documents (formerly 20 working days for compulsory SI and 7 working days for voluntary SI).

- The time for issuing new HI cards is also reduced from 7 days to 5 days.

Also according to Decision 595, voluntary SI participants will receive State support on their monthly contribution based on the poverty standard for rural areas at the following percentage levels:

- 30% for poor households;

- 25% for near-poor households;

- 10% for other participants.

Decision 595/QD-BHXH replaces Decision 959/QD-BHXH dated September 9, 2015.

Unresolved Unemployment Benefits through Public Postal Services in Vietnam

- From the 2018 budget year onward: Implement uniformly as per the regulations in Circular 324.

The conversion of sector accounting codes, investment fields according to Decision 40/2015/QD-TTg, and State Budget expenses as per the Law on State Budget to the new list of expenditure task codes is carried out according to Conversion Table No. 02/BCD attached to Circular 324.

New Issuance Time for Social Insurance Books Reduced to a Maximum of 5 Days in Vietnam 

According to the guidance in Circular 324/2016/TT-BTC effective from February 4, 2017, the State Budget Index System of Vietnam under the new regulations is applied as follows:

- For the 2017 budget year: Follow Decision 33/2008/QD-BTC and the amended, supplementary documents.

Converting sector accounting codes, investment fields according to Decision 40/2015/QD-TTg and State Budget expenses as per the Law on State Budget to the list of budget expenditure task codes for the 2017 budget year as outlined in Conversion Table No. 01/BCD attached to Circular 324. The expenditure task codes in Decision 63/2008/QD-BTC dated August 1, 2008, cease to be valid from the 2017 budget year.

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