CIRCULAR

ON OPERATION OF TOLL BOOTHS

Pursuant to the Law on Road Traffic dated November 13, 2008;

Pursuant to the Law on Public – Private Partnership Investment dated June 16, 2020;

Pursuant to Decree No. 12/2017/ND-CP dated February 10, 2017 of the Government on functions, tasks, entitlements, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

Pursuant to Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg dated June 17, 2020 of the Prime Minister on electronic toll collection;

At the request of the Director of Department of Infrastructure and Director General of Directorate for Road of Vietnam,

The Minister of Transport promulgates the Circular on operation of toll booths.

...

...

...

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Circular provides for operations of toll booths in the road system in Vietnam.

Article 2. Regulated entities

This Circular applies to organizations and individuals involved in operations of toll booths in the road system in Vietnam.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

1. 3. “Toll booth” refers to where road tolls are collected from road vehicles.

2. “Collection management unit” means an organization authorized or licensed by a competent authority to collect road tolls.

3. “Collection operator” means an organization assigned or signed by the collection management unit to perform road toll collection at toll booths. It can also be the collection management unit in case such unit collects road tolls on its own.

...

...

...

5. “Operator of the system of collection management and supervision" means a unit assigned or authorized by a competent authority to manage and operate the system of management, supervision, and utilization of collection data.

6.  “Infrastructure of toll booths” includes: the operator; gantries and gates of toll booths (if any); road surface and lighting system within the toll booth; refuge islands (if any); toll collecting cabins (if any); safety equipment and traffic safety system at toll booths.

7. "Front-end system” means a software and equipment system installed at a toll booth that directly interacts with road vehicles passing through it including electronic equipment such as card readers, antennas, cameras for license plate recognition, devices that detect vehicles entering the booth, high-speed barriers, and other hardware, software, automatic device systems.  The front-end system connects to the back-end system to send transaction information and acquire information of the payer’s card or vehicle.

8. “Back-end system” means a central operating system including module, hardware, and software system located in the data center serving most essential requirements for business and operation of the ETC system. The back-end system acquires and processes transactions sent from the front-end system and performs the functions of the management of accounts, customers (vehicle owner), terminal cards, vehicles registered for using terminal cards, clearing, reconciliation reports, connections with banks, and other professional management and operations.

9. “System of collection management and supervision” means a system of software and information technology infrastructure with functions for the management, supervision, and utilization of data of the traffic and revenue from vehicles passing through toll booths.

Article 4. Operational principles of toll booths

1. Criteria for the establishment of a toll booth:

a) Must be situated within the range of the project (this does not applies with the collection method prescribed in Point a Clause 1 Article 9 of this Circular).

b) Must be approved by competent authorities in the study report on the feasibility of the investment project or the project on the utilization of assets and infrastructure of road traffic.

...

...

...

d) Ensure the effective investment of the public-private project in case the toll booth provide capital recovery for the project.

e) Publicize the location of the toll booth on central and local mass means of communications and at the People’s Committee of the commune or district where the toll booth is placed from the date of approval by competent authorities as per regulation prescribed in Point a of this Clause.

2. Operational principles of toll booths: Operations of toll booths must be publicized and transparent; ensure the safety and confidentiality of personal information of users; only provide information when approved by users or at the request of competent state agencies as per the law.

Chapter II

OPERATIONS OF TOLL BOOTHS

Article 5. Management and organization of operations of toll booths

1. Regarding projects of construction and operation with public-private partnership methods, the infrastructure of toll booths and front-end systems are works that need to be constructed and completed before putting the project into operation

2. Regarding projects of construction and operation using methods prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, in case competent authorities approve toll collection guidelines and infrastructure of toll booths implemented in the project, complete them before putting them into operation.  The collection management unit shall propose investment methods to competent authorities

3. Regarding projects in utilization stage: the collection management unit shall propose the collection method, funds, and methods of investment in the Front-end system to competent authorities for consideration of decisions.

...

...

...

1. The back-end system is managed, operated, maintained by the collection service provider, and has its capital recovered by service fees of ETC services.

2. Aside from the data center prescribed in Point d Clause 1 Article 6 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg, the ETC system must have a backup data center or a data backup system for the data center. The collection service provider shall place or rent a place for the data center and backup data center or data backup system for the data center of the ETC system at a data center with at least level 3 technical assurance prescribed in Appendix A of TCVN 9250:2012 Data centers – Telecommunications technical infrastructure requirement. The collection service provider shall comply with regulations of Circular 03/2013/TT-BTTTT dated January 22, 2013 of the Minister of Information and Communications on application of technical regulations and standards to data centers.

Article 7. Operation and maintenance of the infrastructure of toll booths and the front-end system

The collection operator shall implement the work of operation and maintenance of the infrastructure of toll booths and the front-end system according to the assigned task or collection service contract with the collection management unit. The cost of operation and maintenance shall be covered by the budget for operation of collection and the budget for operation and maintenance of the project in the stage of operation or utilization, or the budget for operation of the ETC system.

Article 8. Working time, outfits, and badges

1. A toll booth operates 24 hours/day on all days of the year, including weekends and public holidays (except for cases where the booth has its collection operations canceled or suspended at the written request of competent authorities)

2. When the toll booth has to stop its operations due to force majeure, the collection operator shall have measures to prevent traffic jams at the area of such toll booth; at the same time, immediately report to the collection management unit and the competent authority for solutions to put the toll booth back into operation as soon as possible.

3. Employees shall wear uniforms when working at the toll booth. The collection operator shall decide the uniform of employees at the toll booth and ensure there are its badge or logo, name sign, and title at noticeable positions of such uniform.

Article 9. Forms and methods of road toll collection

...

...

...

a) ETC is an automatic road toll collection form, road vehicles do not have to stop to pay the toll when passing through toll booths;

b) MTC is the form of road toll collection where road vehicles have to stop one time when passing through the lane control entrance of a toll booth to pay the road toll;

2. There are two methods of road toll collection, open and closed methods.

a) An open method is a method where the vehicle owner has to pay a toll according to the type of vehicle at the toll booth instead of the distance traveled;

b) A closed method is a method where the vehicle owner has to pay a toll according to the type of the vehicle and the distance traveled on a road that is subject to road tolls at the toll booth. 

3. Highway sections; consecutive highway sections; highways; consecutive highways are organized as a closed collection system.

4. Mixed-used toll lane (applying both ETC and MTC) at a toll booth is arranged as per regulation prescribed in Points a, b Clause 3 Article 5 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg.

5. Competent authorities shall decide the form and method of road toll collection in the study report on the feasibility of the investment project or the project on the utilization of assets and infrastructure of road traffic.

Article 10. Data of collection

...

...

...

2. The information data of vehicle owners of the ETC system includes:

a) Contact information of the vehicle owner: Citizen ID number or passport number; business code, home address or address of the main facility; phone number and email (if any) that receives ETC receipts.

b) Identification code of the road vehicle which toll is paid by the toll payment account;

c) Weight rating, seats, type, and license plate of the vehicle

3. The transaction history of toll collection includes:

a) Files of data on transactional information when vehicles go through toll booths;

b) Files of data on the traffic, toll collecting revenue, single trip tickets, monthly tickets, and quarterly tickets;

c) Files of data on videos monitoring lanes, cabins (if any), and the whole area;

d) Files of data on images of vehicles passing through the toll booth include: clear images of license plates and clear images of the whole area for vehicle identification;

...

...

...

4. The data of toll collection shall comply with regulations in Section 5.3.5 of TCVN 10849:2015 Electronic Toll Collection Systems and regulations of competent authorities.

5. Policies on storage of data of toll collection

a) Store for at least 1 year: Files of videos monitoring the whole area and cabins (if any);

b) Store for at least 5 years: Files of videos monitoring lanes; files of images of vehicles passing through toll booths;

c) Store from the moment the toll booth operates until 10 years later from the liquidation of the PPP contract: Information data of vehicle owners of the ETC system; files of data on transactional information when vehicles go through toll booths; files of data on the traffic, toll collecting revenue, sing trip tickets, monthly tickets, and quarterly tickets.

Article 11. Connection of data of toll collection

1. The data of toll collection are connected in accordance with regulations of Section 5.3.6 of TCVN 10849:2015 Electronic Toll Collection Systems and requirements for back-end connection between collection service providers.

2. The collection operator shall connect and synchronize the data on the transaction history of toll collection to the back-end system of the collection service provider as soon as the vehicle goes through the entrance toll booth.

3. Collection service providers shall ensure the mechanism to connect, share, and synchronize data based on the principle of ready, feasibility, convenience, and avoidance of duplication and waste while managing and operating the toll collection and at the request of competent authorities. Collection service providers shall consult with each other and agree on the budget for connection of data of toll collection between their back-end systems suitable for regulations of the law.

...

...

...

5. The connection of data of toll collection shall ensure the transmission speed and preparedness; satisfy requirements for security and confidentiality of information/data in accordance with regulations prescribed in Section 5.3.7 TCVN 10849:2015 Electronic Toll Collection Systems and current regulations on protecting the safety of the information system.

Article 12. Management and utilization of data of toll collection

1. Directorate for Road of Vietnam shall manage and utilize the data of toll collection of toll booths on its system of collection management and supervision; utilize the ETC data by the login account and password provided for access to the information portal for competent state authorities of the back-end system of the collection service provider. The management and utilization of data shall comply with regulations of the law on information confidentiality.

2. The Department of Transport shall manage and utilize the data of toll collection of toll booths on the system of collection management and supervision of competent authorities (if any); utilize ETC data of toll booths managed by administrative divisions by the login account and password provided for access to the information portal for competent authorities of the back-end system of the collection service provider.

3. The collection service provider shall manage the ETC data on its back-end system according to regulations of the collection contract.

4. The collection management unit and collection operator shall manage the MTC data at toll booths under their management.

5. The collection management unit and collection operator may utilize ETC data of toll booths under their management by the login account and password provided for access to the information portal of the back-end system of the collection service provider.

6. The vehicle owner may utilize data of his/her toll payment account (prescribed in Article 14 of this Circular) on the ETC system by the login account and password provided for access to the information portal for customers of the back-end system of the collection service provider.

Article 13. Management and supervision of operations of toll booths

...

...

...

2. Competent authorities are entitled to manage, inspect, and supervise operations of toll booths by the system of collection management and supervision or other professional methods and handle violations in operations of toll booths in accordance with the law or regulations of the contract.

3. The system of collection management and supervision has the role and function of providing information that serves toll collection operations of toll booths as elaborated in Appendix 1 promulgated with this Circular.

4. Parties: The collection management unit, collection operator, and collection service provider shall cooperate in providing and updating information on the system of collection management and supervision at the request of competent authorities.

Chapter III

MANAGEMENT OF AMOUNT FOR COLLECTION

Article 14. Open and use road toll payment accounts for vehicle owners

1. Open and use road toll payment account in accordance with Article 10 and Article 11 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg.

2. The entire amount in toll payment accounts shall be independently and separately managed from other amounts of the collection service provider and used only for purposes prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Road toll payment accounts are for:

...

...

...

b) Paying refundable amounts to vehicle owners

c) Transferring money to collection management units; paying ETC services to the collection service provider;

d) Transferring collected fines to the state budget as per the law.

dd) Paying for other services as per the law.

4. Vehicle owners shall transfer money to their road toll payment accounts (by direct methods, associated bank accounts, and other methods) in order to use ETC services as per regulation.

5. If the amount in the toll payment account is insufficient for ETC services when the vehicle with a terminal card goes through the ETC lane, it shall use the mixed-used toll lane.

Article 15. Responsibilities of the collection service provider and collection management unit

1. The collection service provider shall:

a) Issue ETC receipts with the correct subject and value for each subject that has to pay for road toll at toll booths; shall not collect or obstruct cases that are not subject to road tolls as per the law at the toll booth; shall not change the collection rate of road tolls without any written approval of state agencies.

...

...

...

c) Regularly inspect and supervise the toll collection operations to ensure compliance with the contract or regulations of the law;

d) Return the revenue of road toll collection to the collection management unit after deducting the cost of services of toll booths according to the collection service contract;

dd) Manage the whole amount transferred by vehicle owners to the toll payment account of the collection service provider as per the law;

e) Issue value-added receipts for paid service prices of toll booths in the month and transfer such receipts to the related collection management unit;

2. The collection management unit shall:  

a) Report the use of toll payment accounts of the service provider to competent authorities including measures to manage and use toll payment accounts of the collection service provider and commitment/agreement with the bank on the management and use of toll payment accounts of the collection service provider;

b) Declare and pay tax as per the law;

c) Make reports on revenue from road toll collection and the performance of road toll collection by month, quarter, 6 months, each year and report them to competent authorities as per regulation;

d) Inspect, reconcile, and receive revenues from road toll collection service transferred by the collection service provider. Use this amount as a budget to recover capital for the PPP contract.

...

...

...

1. Reconcile the amount the vehicle owner transferred into the pre-paid account: Every day, the collection service provider shall reconcile the amount the vehicle owner transferred into the pre-paid account with the bank, agent, or payment intermediary. Every month, if the amount in the pre-paid account of the vehicle owner has deposit interests, the collection service provider shall add the amount of interest incurred in the month into the pre-paid account of the vehicle owner in accordance with regulations on interest calculation of the bank.

2. The reconciliation of the figure collected from the amount of road toll collection between the collection service provider and the collection management unit shall comply with the following principles:

a) The collection service provider shall reconcile the daily figure collected from road toll collection of the last 24 hours before confirming the final figure with the collection management unit and use it as the basis for verifying the figure collected from the amount of road toll collection collected in the day; the confirmation date of the final figure shall be agreed on and specified in the contract of collection service provision.

b) Before the 5th day of every month, the collection service provider and the collection management unit shall reconcile and confirm the final debt for the previous month;

c) Within 30 days from the end date of each fiscal year, the collection service provider and the collection management unit shall confirm the final debt and make the final settlement for the previous year.

3. The collection service provider shall develop procedures for reconciliation and money transfer in accordance with regulations of this Circular and relevant laws.

4. The collection management unit shall cooperate with the collection service provider in implementing procedures for reconciliation and fixing and adjusting errors detected during the process of reconciling.

5. The collection service provider shall disclose the daily collected figure and the amount owed by road vehicles at each toll booth (if any).

6. Every day, the collection operator and the collection service provider shall inspect and update the correct figure on the system of collection management and supervision with the following content: the collected amount, the amount of road toll service owed by road vehicles at each toll booth, the amount transferred for specific PPP projects, the retaining amount; revenue, traffic, and explanations of revenue and traffic differences.

...

...

...

1. On the basis of the agreed figure after conducting daily reconciliation with the collection management unit, the collection service provider shall transfer the entire amount collected from road toll collection (including VAT) of each ETC toll booth to the collection management unit after deducting the cost of ETC services according to the collection service contract between the collection service provider and PPP project enterprise.  The time of transfer is in accordance with regulations prescribed Clause 1 Article 14 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg and the collection service contract between the collection service provider and PPP project enterprise. The time of transfer shall not exceed 12 hours after confirming the final figure.  If the collection service provider cannot perform the transfer because the banking system is out of service on holidays or weekends, perform it immediately within 6 hours after the system is back in operation.

2. The collection service provider shall develop procedures for ETC transactions; declare and pay taxes on the retaining amount from road toll collection.

3. The collection management unit shall declare and pay taxes in accordance with regulations of the law on taxes.

Article 18. The budget for operation, budget for ETC services, and budget for supervision of operations of road toll collection

1. The budgets for operations of road toll collection are necessary costs for the completion of road toll collection for road vehicles. The determination of the budget for operations of road toll collections is in accordance with regulations of state authorities or the signed contract for ETC service provision. 

2. The budget for ETC service is the amount that the collection service provider may enjoy to regain capital for investment, construction, renovation, management, operation, and maintenance of ETC projects. The contract for ETC service provision shall specifically specify the determined budget for ETC services of each toll booth; such budget is allocated directly from the revenue of road toll collection of toll road projects implementing road toll collection.

The adjustment of the budget for ETC services shall be in accordance with regulations of terms in the contract for ETC service or regulations of relevant laws.

3. The budget for supervision of operations of road toll collection

The collection management unit shall arrange a manager to inspect and supervise the collection and reconcile the figure of the amount of road toll collection with the collection service provider or the PPP project enterprise in case of inter-connected collection. The budget for the inspection and supervision of collection and the reconciliation of the collection management unit, is allocated from the budget for operations of collection.

...

...

...

Chapter IV

RESPONSIBILITIES IN OPERATIONS OF COLLECTION

Article 19. Vehicle owner participating in road traffic shall:

1. Perform responsibilities of vehicle owners participating in road traffic prescribed in Article 22 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg.

2. Pay road tolls as per regulation and comply with regulations of competent authorities and the collection management unit when participating in road traffic on roads subject to road tolls.

3. Install the terminal card and comply with the ETC form (for vehicle owners who use monthly or quarterly tickets).

4. Use only 1 terminal card for 1 vehicle participating in road traffic. In case the terminal card is broken, or an incident affects the equipment of the collection service provider or the vehicle owner, or the vehicle owner wants to change the collection service provider, he/she shall contact the collection service provider for handling.

Article 20. The collection management unit shall:

1. Take charge of the construction and approval of procedures for road toll collection suitable for the form and method of road toll collection at toll booths; internal regulations on inspection and handling of violations and accidents during the implementation of road toll collection.

...

...

...

Regarding projects invested by the public-private partnership method, during the whole process of collection, the collection management unit (or authorized collection operator) shall publicize information on digital signs (VMS) installed in the area of the operator of toll booths, including: the name of the project, the value of project works (if the project has not received final settlements, publicize information according to the total investment), the total time to be allowed to conduct road toll collection, time of the start of road toll collection, the remaining time to be able to conduct road toll collection, the revenue of the previous month of toll booths (the figure of revenue must be updated no later than the 10th of the following month), and the phone number to receive feedback information.

3. Make reports on statistics, accounting, and final settlements of revenues; declare and pay taxes as per law.

4. Manage assets assigned and transferred by the state and assets of toll booths formed during the process of investment in accordance with relevant regulations and the signed contract with competent authorities.

5. Pay for the use of assets of the state or the rent for utilization of road traffic infrastructure (if any) in accordance with regulations of the law on management and use of public assets.

6. Transfer assets of toll booths to competent authorities or the unit assigned by competent authorities when ending the contract. The transferred assets must be in their normal stage of operation in accordance with regulations of the contract.

7. Comply with decisions on the suspension or cancellation of collection or reduction of collection time of competent authorities or the unit assigned by competent authorities to manage operations of road toll collection.

8. Provide the full information, data, figures, and documents at the request of competent authorities on issues related to the supervision, inspection, investigation, and handling of issues related to security and traffic safety during the utilization.

Article 21. The collection operator shall:

1. Perform tasks assigned by the collection management unit or perform tasks according to the collection service contract signed with the collection management unit. Cooperate with authorities of the locality where toll booths are at in preserving security and order during the process of road toll collection, ensuring road traffic safety, preventing traffic jams, negative phenomena, obstructions, or troubles in road toll collection, and promptly handling violations during the process of collection.

...

...

...

3. Make a backup of the data on collection in accordance with regulations prescribed in Clause 5 Article 10 of this Circular to serve the supervision and post-inspection.

4. Comply with the installation of equipment and software that manage and supervise the data on collection by competent authorities; take responsibility in cooperating and ensuring an online, stable, and continuous connection to the system of collection management and supervision of competent authorities; comply with regulations prescribed in Article 13 of this Circular.

5. In case the technological equipment system serving the road toll collection is malfunctioned or broken, promptly report the matter to competent authorities or the collection management while urgently fixing the problem of the system. The time to fix the problem shall not exceed 48 hours from the time the system malfunctioned or broken. While fixing the problems, the collection operator shall disclose such incidents at toll booths and on means of mass communications; adopt alternative methods to quickly and safely conduct the collection, preventing traffic jams; adopt measures to prevent loss of revenue from road toll collection.

6. Ensure environmental hygiene at the area of toll booths; ensure compliance with the traffic organization project approved by competent authorities on the road where toll booths are.

7. Comply with decisions on the suspension or cancellation of collection of competent authorities or the unit assigned by competent authorities to manage operations of road toll collection.

8. Not allow the following acts:

a) Conducting fraudulence regarding revenue from road toll collection or collusion of fraudulence in operations of road toll collection;

b) Interfering in the technological equipment system for collection, the system of collection management and supervision, and the system of equipment for inspection of vehicle weight rating; creating negativity in the field of inspection of vehicle weight rating; making false reports on revenues for fraudulence regarding revenue from road toll collection;

c) Organizing untimely ticket sales or tickets checking, harassing buyers; not selling tickets fully or limiting the duration of monthly and quarterly ticket sales as per regulation; obstructing road traffic at the area of toll booths; collecting road tolls contrary to regulations;

...

...

...

dd) Not performing the maintenance of assets of toll booths; arbitrarily dismantling, liquidating, or selling assets of toll booths; not calibrating or inspecting groups of equipment subject calibration and inspection as per regulation;

e) Using other technologies or methods to transfer false data to the system of collection management and supervision or interfering in the software that supervise the road toll collection, leading to differences in the traffic and revenue of toll booths.

9. Take responsibility in compensating for the damage to the collection management unit in case of cancellation or suspension of collection or reduction of collection time that the collection operator is at fault or other cases according to regulations of the contract.

Article 22. The collection service provider shall:

1. Perform responsibilities of collection service providers prescribed in Article 26 of Decision No. 19/2020/QD-TTg, except for cases with different regulations prescribed by competent authorities.

2. Make a backup of the data on collection in accordance with regulations prescribed in Clause 5 Article 10 of this Circular to serve the supervision and post-inspection.

3. Ensure the KPI of the system of interconnection and cooperation between collection service providers in accordance with regulations prescribed in Appendix No. 2 promulgated with this Circular.

4. Ensure the KPI of the ETC system at toll booths meets the mandatory requirement of competent authorities.

5. Comply with decisions on the suspension or cancellation of collection of competent authorities or the unit assigned by competent authorities to manage operations of road toll collection.

...

...

...

7. Not allow the following acts:

a) Conducting fraudulence regarding revenue from road toll collection or collusion of fraudulence in operations of road toll collection;

b) Interfering in the technological equipment system for collection, the system of collection management and supervision, and the system of equipment for inspection of vehicle weight rating; creating negativity in the field of inspection of vehicle weight rating; making false reports on revenues for fraudulence regarding revenue from road toll collection;

c) Misusing the amount in the road toll payment account.

8. Take responsibility in compensating for the damage to the collection management unit in case of cancellation or suspension of collection or reduction of collection time that the collection service provider is at fault or other cases according to regulations of the contract.

Article 23. The operator of the system of collection management and supervision shall:

1. Arrange sufficient managers to operate and ensure a stable and continuous operation of the system of collection management and supervision.

2. Cooperate with the collection management unit, collection operator, and collection service provider in reconciling collection data on the system of collection management and supervision.

3. Agree with the collection management unit, collection operator, collection service provider on the provision of reports prescribed in Point a, Clause 1, Article 25 of this Circular or submit irregular reports at the request of competent authorities by the system of collection management and supervision.

...

...

...

5. Notify fraudulence and law violations of road vehicle owners to the collection management unit and competent authorities for handling in accordance with regulations of the law and regulations of the contract.

6. Perform the maintenance and upgrade of the system of collection management and supervision, ensuring its stable and continuous operations.

7. Ensure the safety and confidentiality of information and data on collection as per regulation.

Article 24. Responsibilities of state management authorities

1. Directorate for Road of Vietnam perform the state management function regarding toll booths and operations of road toll collection on national highways and expressways under central government management.  It shall take responsibility in implementing and inspecting operations of the ETC system and toll booths on the road system in accordance with regulations of the law and this Circular.

2. Local authorities shall perform the state management function regarding toll booths and operations of road toll collection on the local road system or national highways and expressways under the management of the People’s Committee of the province or centrally affiliated city. They shall take responsibility in implementing and inspecting operations of the ETC system and toll booths on the road system in accordance with regulations of the law and this Circular.

Article 25. Regulations on reports

1. The collection management unit and collection service provider shall prepare periodic reports and send them to competent authorities or units authorized by competent authorities to manage the road toll collection:

a) Name of the report: “Periodic report on revenue of road toll collection and traffic at toll booths” and “Periodic report on management and use of assets”;

...

...

...

c) The report shall be prepared by: The collection management unit and the collection service provider;

d) Receivers of the report: Competent authorities or units authorized by competent authorities to manage operations of road toll collection;

dd) How to send reports: Send directly or by post;

e) Deadline for submission of reports:

Regarding reports on revenue of road toll collection and traffic at toll booths: Before the 10th day of the following month for monthly reports; before July 10 of each year for half-year reports; before February 28 of the following year for annual reports.

Regarding reports on the management and use of assets: before July 10 of each year for half-year reports; before January 10 of the following year for annual reports.

g) Frequency of reports:

Regarding reports on revenue of road toll collection and traffic at toll booths: Send monthly reports, half-year reports and annual reports.

Regarding reports on the management and use of assets: Send half-year reports and annual reports.

...

...

...

Regarding monthly reports: From the 1st day to the end of the reporting month;

Regarding half-year reports: From January 1 to the end of June 30 of the reporting year;

Regarding annual reports: From January 1 to the end of December 31 of the reporting year.

i) Forms of reports:

Reports on revenue of road toll collection and traffic at toll booths are in accordance with Form No. 1 to Form No. 7 of Appendix No. 3 promulgated with this Circular;

Reports on the management and use of assets are in accordance with Form No. 8 of Appendix No. 3 promulgated with this Circular.

2. Aside from periodic reports according to regulations prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the collection management unit and collection service provider shall prepare and submit irregular reports at the request of competent authorities or units authorized by competent authorities to manage operations of road toll collection.

3. The collection management unit and the collection service provider shall take responsibility for the accuracy of the figures of reports. Regarding annual reports on revenue of road toll collection, they must be audited by an independent audit organization or verified by a tax authority.

Chapter V

...

...

...

Article 26. Suspension of collection

1. The suspension of collection happens when the PPP project enterprise or the collection management unit violates the maintenance quality of road works and has been warned in writing by the competent authority twice with a time limit for remedial action. Appendix No. 4 promulgated with this Circular regulates specific details on acts of violating the maintenance quality of road works. The time of collection suspension is from the time of request stated in the suspension document until the PPP project enterprise or the collection management unit completes its remedial work; such suspension time shall not be less than 1 day.

2. The suspension of collection happens when the PPP project enterprise, the collection management unit, the collection operator, or the collection service provider let situations with risks of traffic insecurity or prolonged traffic jam on the road happen and has been warned in writing by the competent authority twice with a time limit for remedial action, however, such remedial action is undone or slow.  The time of collection suspension is from the time of request stated in the suspension document until the PPP project enterprise, the collection management unit, the collection operator, or the collection service provider completes its remedial work; such suspension time shall not be less than 1 day.

3. The suspension of collection happens when the collection operator violates regulations prescribed in Points a, b Clause 8 Article 21 of this Circular or the collection service provider violates regulations prescribed in Points a, b Clause 7 Article 22 of this Circular. The time of collection suspension is from the time of request stated in the suspension document until the collection operator or the collection service provider completely remedies the consequences of violations and receives a written authorization for the continuation of operations of road toll collection by the competent authority.

4. The suspension of collection happens when the collection operator violates regulations prescribed in Clause 4 Article 21 of this Circular and has been warned in writing by the competent authority twice with a time limit for remedial action. The time of collection suspension is from the time of request stated in the suspension document until the collection operator fulfills the content prescribed in Clause 4 Article 21 of this Circular.

5. The suspension of collection happens when the system of technology and equipment directly serving the road toll collection malfunctions or breaks and has not been promptly fixed according to regulations prescribed in Clause 5 Article 21 of this Circular. The time of collection suspension is from the time of request stated in the suspension document until the collection operator fixes the problems and receives a written authorization for the continuation of road toll collection by the competent authority.

6. The suspension of collection happens at the request of competent authorities in case of an epidemic, natural disasters, and wars, or to serve national security and defense, or to comply with guidelines and policies of the State.

7. The suspension of collection happens when the collection management unit, the collection operator, or the collection service provider intentionally delays or fails to comply with the decisions of competent authorities.

8. Cases where the suspension of collection is not the fault of the collection management unit, the collection operator, or the collection service provider, shall be handled in accordance with regulations of the law or the collection service contract.

...

...

...

1. In case the capital recovery period of the project expires, the collection management unit shall proactively stop the collection or comply with the decision to stop the collection of the competent authority (or the unit authorized by the competent authority to manage operations of road toll collection) The determination of the time of collection cancellation shall be in accordance with the collection contract of the competent authority with the collection management unit or the contract with the PPP project enterprise.

2. The cancellation of collection happens in cases prescribed in Clause 2 Article 52 of the Law on Public-Private Partnership Investment.

Article 28. Reduction of collection time

1. The reduction of collection time happens when the collection operator or the collection service provider fails to back up the data on collection or incompletely backs up data on collection in accordance with regulations prescribed in Article 10 of this Circular, except for cases with reasonable reasons approved by competent authorities. Reduce the collection time by 2 days in case of not backing up data from 10 to 15 days; reduce the collection time by 4 days in case of not backing up data from 16 to 30 days. Regarding cases of not backing up data from 31 days onwards, reduce the collection time by 2 days every 5 days of not backing up data.

2. The reduction of collection time happens when the collection management unit, the collection operator, or the collection service provider fails to provide reports prescribed in Article 25 of this Circular or fails to pay for the use of assets of the state or the rent for utilization of road traffic infrastructure and has been warned in writing by the competent authority twice with each warning is more than 5 days apart. Reduce the collection time by 1 days in case of submitting reports from 10 to 30 days late; reduce the collection time by 2 days in case of submitting reports from 31 to 60 days late. Regarding cases of late submission of reports from 61 days onwards, reduce the collection time by 1 day every 5 days of late report submission.

Article 29. Organization of collection suspension, collection cancellation, or reduction of collection time

1. Competent authorities that decides on the collection suspension, collection cancellation, or reduction of collection time:

a) Directorate for Road of Vietnam shall decide on the collection suspension, collection cancellation, or reduction of collection time regarding toll booths on national highways and expressways under central government management.

b) Local authorities shall decide on the collection suspension, collection cancellation, or reduction of collection time regarding toll booths on the local road system or national highways and expressways under the management of the People’s Committee of the province or centrally affiliated city.

...

...

...

3. The revenue of each day of collection suspension is the average revenue per day of the following month after the collection suspension. Regarding cases where the collection operator violates regulations prescribed in Points a, b Clause 8 Article 21 of this Circular or the collection service provider violates Points a, b Clause 7 Article 22 of this Circular, aside from receiving collection suspension as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 26 of this Circular, the revenue of each day of collection suspension is 3 times the day with the highest revenue of the following month.

The average revenue per day of a month is the average revenue per day of the total revenue of single trip tickets, monthly tickets, and quarterly tickets recorded in the month.

4. During the period of collection suspension, the collection management unit, the collection operator, and the collection service provider shall ensure smooth and safe traffic, prevent obstructions and traffic jams, and widely inform the suspension on local and central means of mass communication as well as at toll booths.

5. In cases of reduction of collection, such time shall be deducted at the end of the period of capital recovery when making the final settlement for the project contract.

Chapter VI

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 30. Transitional handling

1. Regarding contracts that are being negotiated and have not been signed, competent authorities shall rely on this Circular to revise and update relevant clauses in the contracts;

2. In case of toll booths whose location has been determined, contracts and contract annexes have been signed in the form of public-private partnerships before the effective date of this Circular, comply with the signed contracts and contract annexes. The budget for operations of road toll collection after switching to ETC complies with regulations of this Circular, relevant regulations, and the signed contract.

...

...

...

1. This Circular comes into force as of March 31, 2022 and replaces Circular No. 15/2020/TT-BGTVT dated July 22, 2020 of the Ministry of Transport on operations of toll booths.

2. In case documents cited in this Circular are amended, supplemented, or replaced, apply regulations of such documents.

Article 32. Implementation

1. Chief of the Ministry Office, Chief Inspector of the Ministry, Director of Directorate for Road of Vietnam, directors of related agencies, organizations, and individuals shall implement this Circular./.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular shall be reported to the Ministry of Transport for considerations and solutions./.

;

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Le Dinh Tho