Pursuant to the Land-Road Traffic Law;

Pursuant to the August 28, 2001 Fee and Charge Ordinance and the Government's Decree No. 57/2002/ND-CP of June 3, 2002 detailing the implementation of the Fee and Charge Ordinance;

Pursuant to the Government's Resolution No. 13/2002/NQ-CP of November 19, 2002 on solutions to check the rise in, and proceed to gradually reduce, traffic accidents and congestion, and the Prime Minister's opinions in the Government Office's Official Dispatch No. 467/VPCP-KTTH of January 28, 2003 on readjustment of automobile and motorbike registration fee levels;

The Finance Ministry hereby prescribes the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of the fee for granting registration papers and number plates of land-road motorized traffic means, as follows:

I. SUBJECTS OF APPLICATION

1. Vietnamese and foreign organizations and individuals, when being granted registration papers and number plates by the competent agencies (hereinafter referred collectively to as the registry) for their land-road motorized traffic means (hereinafter referred collectively to as traffic means) shall have to pay the registration paper-and number plate-granting fee according to the provisions of this Circular; except for cases exempt from the fee prescribed at Point 2 of this Section.

2. The following cases shall be exempt from payment of the fee for granting registration papers and number plates of traffic means:

a/ Diplomatic missions, consular offices and representative offices of the international organizations in the United Nations system.

b/ Diplomats, consuls, administrative and technical personnel of foreign diplomatic missions and consular offices, members of the international organizations in the United Nations system and their family members who are neither Vietnamese citizens nor permanently residing in Vietnam and who are granted diplomatic identity cards or official-duty identity cards by Vietnam's Foreign Ministry or the local foreign affair agencies authorized by the Foreign Ministry.

For these cases, upon registering their traffic means, the registrants shall have to produce to the registry their diplomatic identity cards (in red) or official-duty identity cards (in yellow) according to the regulations of the Foreign Ministry.

c/ Other foreign organizations and individuals (representative offices of inter-governmental international organizations outside the United Nations system, representative offices of non-governmental organizations, delegations of international organizations, members of other agencies and organizations), that are not subjects prescribed in Paragraphs a and b above, but are exempt from payment of or not liable to the fee for granting registration papers and number plates according to the international treaties which Vietnam has signed or acceded to. For this case, registering organizations and individuals shall have submit to the registry the following:

- Application for exemption of registration paper- and number plate-granting fee, with their signatures, full names and affixed seals (for organizations).

- Copies of treaties or agreements between the Vietnamese Government and foreign governments in the Vietnamese language (notarized by the State notaries or with signatures, full names and certification seals of program or project owners).

3. In this Circular, a number of words and phrases shall be construed as follows:

a/ Land-road motorized traffic means include automobiles, tractors and motorcycles, of which:

- Cars with 7 seats or less are passenger cars, excluding lambretta three-wheeled cabs.

- Motorcycles, including: motor-bicycles, motor-tricycles, mopeds and the like, including motorized vehicles for the disabled.

b/ The cities and provincial capitals specified in this Circular are determined according to their State administrative boundaries, concretely as follows:

- Hanoi city, Ho Chi Minh City and other centrally-run cities (such as Da Nang, Hai Phong, ...), including all their districts, regardless of whether they are inner city or outskirts, urban or rural districts.

- Provincially-run cities and provincial capitals, including all wards and communes of provincial cities and capitals where the provincial-level People's Committees are headquartered, regardless of whether they are inner city wards or outskirts communes.

c/ Granting of new registration papers and number plates shall be applicable only to traffic means registered for the first time in Vietnam (including used traffic means or those already registered in foreign countries) according to the regulations of the Ministry of Public Security.

d/ Re-granting of registration papers and number plates shall be applicable to cases of registration paper or number plate loss; renewal of registration papers and number plates shall be applicable to cases of renovation, change of paint color of land-road motorized traffic means, or torn or damaged registration papers, or damaged or dim number plates.

II. FEE LEVELS

1. Promulgated together with this Circular is the Table of levels of the fee for granting registration papers and number plates of traffic means applicable to the following three different zones:

a/ Zone I: including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities.

b/ Zone II: including the other centrally-run cities (other than Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities), the provincially-run cities and provincial capitals where the provincial People's Committees are headquartered.

c/ Zone III: including other regions outside Zone I (a) and Zone II (b) above.

2. Organizations and individuals shall pay the registration paper- and number plate-granting fee at the fee levels prescribed correspondingly for the zones where they are currently located or residing. Organizations shall pay the fee according to their headquarters addresses inscribed in their registration papers, while individuals shall pay the fee at places where they register their permanent residence.

3. A number of norms specified in the Table of levels of the fee for granting registration papers and number plates of traffic means shall be applied as follows:

3.1. Levels of the fee for granting registration papers and number plates to cars not engaged in the passenger transportation business specified at Point 2, Section I of the Fee Table shall not apply to the following cases:

a/ Cars of organizations (enterprises, companies) and individuals engaged in the passenger transportation business and granted passenger transportation business licenses or business registration certificates by competent agencies. For this case, upon registering cars, organizations and individuals engaged in the passenger transportation business shall have to supply to the registry the following:

+ Introduction letters of the companies granted passenger transportation business licenses or business registration certificates by competent agencies. Introduction letters must clearly state the number and type of vehicles to be registered.

+ Passenger transportation business licenses or business registration certificates granted by competent agencies.

b/ Cars involved in financial leasing for organizations and individuals granted passenger transport business licenses (or business registration certificates) by competent agencies. Upon registering their vehicles, financial leasing companies shall have to supply to the registry the following:

+ Introduction letters of the financial leasing companies, clearly stating the number and type of cars to be registered for financial leasing.

+ Financial leasing contracts signed between the lessees being the companies engaged in the passenger transportation business and the financial leasing companies, which clearly state the number of cars to be leased and lease terms (in case of copies, they must be notarized by the State notary office).

The above-said cases (at Points a and b) must pay the fee for granting of registration papers and number plates at the levels specified at Point 1, Section I of the Fee Table promulgated together with this Circular.

3.2. The levels of the fee for re-granting or renewing registration papers according to the provisions in Section II of the Fee Table shall apply to the re-granting or renewal of registration papers and number plates of cars not engaged in the passenger transportation business and motorcycles shifted from a zone liable to lower fee levels to a zone liable to higher fee levels (regardless of whether they change hands or not). For this case, organizations and individuals shall have to pay the fee for re-granting or renewing registration papers and number plates at the levels applicable to new granting prescribed at Point 2 (for cars) or Point 4 (for motorcycles), Section I of the Fee Table promulgated together with this Circular.

Example 1: Mr. A has permanent residence registration in Hanoi city, and his vehicle has already been granted a registration paper and number plate by Hanoi Police Department. Then, Mr. A sells his vehicle to Mr. B who is also residing in Hanoi city. Therefore, Mr. B, upon making the registration thereof, shall only have to pay the fee for re-granting or renewing the vehicle registration paper and number plate at the level prescribed in Section II of the Fee Table.

Example 2: Mr. H lives in Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang province. This motorcycle has been granted a registration paper and number plate by Bac Giang province's Police Department; then he sells it to Mr. B in Hanoi. Therefore, Mr. B, upon making the registration thereof, shall have to pay the fee at the level applicable to the new granting in Hanoi prescribed at Point 2 (for cars) or Point 4 (for motorcycles), Section I of the Fee Table.

3.3. For automobiles and motorcycles of individuals, which have been granted registration papers and number plates in a zone liable to lower fee levels, then shifted to another zone liable to higher fee levels due to owners' work or permanent residence registration transfer without changing hands and with complete procedures prescribed by the Police, the fee levels prescribed in Section II of the Fee Table shall apply.

3.4. The values of motorcycles to serve as basis for the application of registration paper- and number plate-granting fee levels shall be the prices for calculating the registration fee at the time of registration.

III. ORGANIZATION OF THE COLLECTION, REMITTANCE, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF FEE AMOUNTS

1. The police offices which organize the registration and granting of registration papers and number plates of land-road motorized traffic means shall collect the fee therefor strictly according to the provisions of this Circular. When collecting the fee, they shall issue receipts to the fee payers (receipt form set by the Finance Ministry).

2. Organizations and individuals that register land-road motorized traffic means shall have to pay the fee at the levels prescribed in this Circular before being granted registration papers and number plates.

3. The fee money collected according to the provisions of this Circular shall, depending on their amounts, be remitted daily or weekly by the police offices into the "custody of fee and charge money" accounts opened at the State Treasury branches in the localities where they are headquartered. The whole collected fee amount, after subtracting the expenses for purchase of number plates at prices prescribed by the Finance Ministry in each period (actual prices inscribed in sale invoices issued by the Finance Ministry), shall be (assumed as 100%) divided and used as follows:

3.1. The fee-collecting police offices shall be entitled to deduct a part according to the following percentage (%):

- In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh cities: 15%

- In other centrally-run cities: 25%

- In other provinces: 40%.

The police offices shall use the fee amount deducted according to the above percentages to serve the fee collection according to the following specific spending contents:

a/ Printing (or purchase) of forms, declaration form, application form and dossier for motorcycle registration, registration certificates, books for monitoring the registration; including plastic covering of registration certificates and vehicle serial number imprinting.

b/ Expenses for regular repairs and overhauls of assets, machinery and equipment which are in direct service of the fee collection.

c/ Expenses for procurement of machinery and equipment to modernize the fee collection.

d/ Other regular expenses in direct service of the granting of registration papers and number plates according to the regime prescribed by the State (excluding expenses being wages for the public security force and State workers and employees enjoying wages according to the prescribed regime).

e/ Deductions for setting up of reward and welfare funds for officials and employees directly engaged in the collection of registration paper- and plate number-granting fee. The average annual per-capita deduction levels for setting up the reward and welfare funds must not exceed 3 (three) months' actual wages if the collected amount in a year is larger than that of the preceding year, or 2 (two) months' actual wages if the collected amount in a year is smaller than or equal to that of the preceding year.

The whole fee amount deducted at the above rates shall be incorporated by the police offices in their annual financial plans. In the management process, such fee amount must be used for the right spending contents strictly according to the financial expenditure regime and accompanied with lawful vouchers and invoices as prescribed. Basing themselves on the fee amounts deducted to serve the fee collection, the directors of the police departments of the provinces and centrally-run cities may decide to transfer fee amounts from abundant units to lacking units (in cases where the registration of land-road motorized traffic means has been decentralized to district police offices) or pay for procurement of machinery and equipment in service of the fee collection modernization. Upon the annual settlement, if the deducted amount is not used up, it shall be carried forward to the following year for further spending according to the prescribed regime.

3.2. The remainder (the total collected amount minus (-) expenses for purchasing number plates and deducted amount left to police offices according to regulations) shall be remitted by the police offices into the State budget according to the corresponding chapter, type and section, item 046, sub-item 12 of the State budget index, then wholly allocated to the local budgets for investment in development of land-road traffic and mass-transit infrastructures as well as land-road traffic order and safety work.

The procedures for registering, declaring, collecting and paying the registration paper- and number plate-granting fee shall comply with the provisions of the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 63/2002/TT-BTC of July 24, 2002 guiding the implementation of the law provisions on fees and charges.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette. Other regulations on the fee for granting registration papers and number plates of land-road motorized traffic means, which are contrary to this Circular, shall all be hereby annulled. Other fees and charges (other than the registration paper- and number plate-granting fee) shall continue to comply with the provisions of the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 77-TC/TCT of November 29, 1996 prescribing the regime of collection, remittance, management and use of the State management fees in the domain of land-road and urban traffic order and safety.

Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported by the agencies, organizations and individuals to the Finance Ministry for study and additional guidance.

For the Minister of Finance
Vice Minister
TRUONG CHI TRUNG

Notes: - Zone I: Hanoi city and Ho Chi Minh City.

- Zone II: Other centrally-run cities, provincially-run cities and provincial capitals.

- Zone III: Other regions.-