What are regulations on management and uses of tolls on expressways invested by the State in Vietnam?

What are regulations on management and uses of tolls on expressways invested by the State in Vietnam? (Image from the internet)

What are regulations on management and uses of tolls on expressways invested by the State in Vietnam?

On October 10, 2024, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 130/2024/ND-CP regulating the collection of toll fees for the use of expressways for vehicles traveling on the expressways owned by the people, with the State as the representative owner and direct manager, and exploiter.

Within this, Article 10 of Decree 130/2024/ND-CP prescribes the management and use of Tolls on expressways when the road management authority directly organizes the exploitation as follows:

(1) The revenue management authority opens an account at the State Treasury to manage Tolls on expressways, including: Fee account awaiting budget submission and account for operational expenses of service provision and fee collection.

(2) Tolls on expressways under central management are submitted to the central budget, while those under local management are submitted to the local budget. The revenue management authority is allowed to retain a portion of the actual collected Tolls on expressways before submitting to the state budget according to a specific percentage (%) to cover service provision and fee collection activities, specifically:

- The percentage retained and the management, usage regarding toll fees under local management is decided by the provincial People's Council;

- The percentage retained for toll fees under the management of the Ministry of Transport is six point five percent (6.5%) of the actually collected Tolls on expressways, of which: zero point two percent (0.2%) is for the activities of toll fee management by the toll collection management agency, spending conducted as per the regulation of the fees and charges law; six point three percent (6.3%) is for hiring payment service providers for road use fees and hiring toll operation units along with related costs to support the fee collection process as detailed in (3).

(3) Management and use of Tolls on expressways under the management of the Ministry of Transport. Specifically:

- The cost of fee collection services is determined based on the result of selecting service providers for payment of road use fees and toll operation units according to the bidding law and related laws; all collected Tolls on expressways, after subtracting service provision costs per the toll service agreement (with costs not exceeding six point three percent (6.3%) of total actual fees collected), are transferred by the payment service provider for road use fees to the fee account awaiting budget submission opened by the revenue management authority at the State Treasury. The transfer duration does not exceed 48 hours, including no more than 24 hours for generated amounts on the fee collection account of the payment service provider since the reconciliation data point. If on holidays or weekends when banks are not in operation, transfers are made the next working day;

- The revenue management authority determines the fee amount retained for service provision and fee collection; transfers the remaining amount (after deducting service costs per the fee service agreement) to the operational expenses account for service provision and fee collection opened by the revenue management authority at the State Treasury; the remainder is submitted to the state budget within no later than the 20th day of the following month and details per the current state budget index;

- The amount transferred to the operational expense account for service provision and fee collection by the revenue management authority at the State Treasury is used for these common tasks: Payment for hiring toll operation units (if any) per contract; payment for any shortfall in the service contract for payment service providers for road use fees (if the retained amount from the agreement is lower than the service provider's fee for road use fee payment); expenses for toll fee management activities of the toll collection management authority.

Annually, the revenue management authority must finalize revenues and expenditures as per regulations. After properly finalizing revenues and expenditures, the retained fee amount not yet spent within the year is carried forward to the next year for continued expenditure per regulatory policies; in the event of a lapse of 02 years from the carry-forward year and the fee amount no longer has expenditure duties, or if State policies change rendering the retained fee amount insufficient to ensure costs for the fee collection organization's activities, the revenue management authority must report to the relevant Ministry to then report to the Ministry of Finance to submit to the state budget or request competent authorities to amend the retained percentage accordingly.

What are the tolls and toll rates on expressway usage under the management scope of the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam?

(1) Tolls on expressways are determined based on the actual distance traveled by the vehicle (in km) and the corresponding fee rate for each type of vehicle (VND/km).

(2) The toll fee rate for vehicles traveling on expressways under the management of the Ministry of Transport is specified in the Appendix attached to Decree 130/2024/ND-CP.

(3) Based on the fee rate provided in (2), the fee rate applicable for each route or section is concretely determined at the Asset Exploitation Scheme approved by competent authorities as per regulations.

(Article 9 of Decree 130/2024/ND-CP)

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