Is a stolen car required to pay road use fee in Vietnam?

Is a stolen car required to pay road use fee in Vietnam? (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Is a stolen car required to pay road use fee in Vietnam?

According to Clause 2, Article 2 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC, the automobiles shall not incur the road use fee in Vietnam when:

- Being damaged by an accident or natural disaster.

- Being seized or stripped of certificate of vehicle registration or number plate.

- Being rendered inoperative by a serious accident and requiring repair for at least 30 days.

- Being commercial transport vehicles of transport companies, cooperatives and cooperatives unions (hereinafter referred to as companies), which cease operating in at least 30 consecutive days.

- Neither entering the traffic flow nor employing the roadways in the road transport system (only obtaining inspection certificate and not obtaining inspection stamp as prescribed by the Ministry of Transport regarding vehicle safety and emission inspection for road motor vehicles), but operating within the land area of a driving test center, station, port, mine, agricultural or forestry zone; construction work (traffic, irrigation, power).

- Being registered and inspected in Vietnam but operating abroad in 30 consecutive days or more.

- Being stolen for a minimum period of 30 days.

Thus, according to the above regulations, if a car is stolen within 30 days or more, it will not have to pay the road use fee.

2. Cases of fee waiver in Vietnam

The road use fee is waived for:

- Ambulance.

- Fire engine.

- Funeral vehicles, including:

+ Vehicles specifically structured for funeral (hearse and refrigerated truck for carriage and storage of corpses).

+ Vehicles used only for funeral services (passenger vehicle accompanying the hearse, flower-carrying vehicle, portrait-carrying vehicle) and registered under a funeral service provider.  The funeral service provider shall give a written undertaking (which specifies the quantity and plate number of the vehicles) to use such vehicles for funeral activities to the registry agency (upon the inspection of the vehicle).

+ Vehicles specialized for national defense, which are road motor vehicles carrying a number plate with red background and embossed white numerical and alphabetical characters and fitted with national defense equipment (a tanker vehicle, crane truck, a personnel carrier refers to a passenger automobile with at least 12 seats or a transport truck with seat-fitted covered body, and other specialized vehicles fitted with a red-painted number plate).

- Security vehicles of police forces including:

+ Traffic cars of the traffic police, which have the following traits: a rotary strobe is fitted on the cars’ roof and the word “CẢNH SÁT GIAO THÔNG” (TRAFFIC POLICE) is exhibited on both sides of their body.

+ Police cars of the 113 unit, which display the word: "CẢNH SÁT 113" (113 POLICE) on both sides of their body.

+ Mobile police cars that show the word: "CẢNH SÁT CƠ ĐỘNG" (MOBILE POLICE) on both sides of their body.

+ Vans with seat-fitted covered body, which transport police personnel on duty.

+ Prisoner transport vehicles, rescue vehicles.

+ Special-service cars (satellite information vehicles, bulletproof vehicles, anti-terrorism, riot prevention vehicles and other special vehicles of the Ministry of Public Security).

(Article 3 of Circular 70/2021/TT-BTC)

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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