Road to getting transport sector in order

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) just submitted to the prime minister a document relevant to a draft decree amending and supplementing some articles in Decree 91/2009/ND-CP dated October 21, 2009 regulating road transport business and business conditions for service provision.

Accordingly, the compiling body (MoT) accepted to abolish a regulation on minimal car numbers a business entity must have in order to get a licence on road transport business and taxis services provision.

The regulation used to be inserted into previous three draft decrees. Accordingly, businesses and passenger transport trading firms running on fixed routes above a 300 kilometre distance must have at least five car units offering the service.

Similarly, to get a licence taxis trading businesses must have at least 20 car units. The MoT once expected the regulation would be an important tool to bolster the service quality.

However, in document 5734/BTP-PKDSKT providing input to the draft decree Deputy Minister of Justice Dinh Trung Tung suggested state management agencies should only take care of the service quality and traffic safety instead of involving too deeply into firms’ business.

From the part of businesses, deputy director Nguyen Kien at Thai Binh-based Long Thu Passenger Transport -which runs on Thai Binh-Lai Chau route - assumed if the regulation was tightened, small firms would be financially incapable to run on long routes.  

Some road transport associations, however, supposed such requirement should not be removed.
Hanoi Transport Association chairman Bui Danh Lien recently proposed the MoT build up standards to oust unqualified firms from joining north-south road transport service provision.

Besides, to restore order in road passenger transport the MoT asked the premier to supplement the draft decree with conditions on taking back transport firms’ business licences.

Accordingly, firms transporting passengers and containers on fixed routes and taxis businesses will have their licences taken back in the following cases -  having 5 per cent of operating cars in which the drivers incurred faults relevant to travel itinerary, having 20 per cent of operating cars impinged on speed regulations, having 20 per cent of cars picking up and releasing passengers not in right places and having 10 per cent of cars in which drivers incurred time related faults.

“Sanction measures regulated in Decree 91 were not severe enough to punish short-sighted firms,” said MoT’s Directorate for Road of Vietnam deputy chief Nguyen Van Quyen.

“Once adopted, new sanctions would help bring road passenger transport into order and contribute to slashing cases of horrible traffic accidents currently on the rise in Vietnamese roads,” National Traffic Safety Committee former deputy chief of office Nguyen Cong Ha said.