The Ministry of Transport is consulting with ministries and branches to complete the draft decree amending and supplementing Decree 139/2018 and Decree 30/2023 related to regulations on motor vehicle inspection service business.

The decree was amended in the context of a major vehicle inspection case being brought to trial by localities. Of these, 42 localities with 112 vehicle inspection centers have inspectors being prosecuted. A representative of the Vietnam Register predicted that the trial would have a huge impact on inspection activities in many provinces and cities as a series of vehicle inspectors are at risk of being convicted.

Under current regulations, inspection centers will be suspended for 3 months if 2 or more inspectors have their inspection certificates revoked due to convictions related to the field of motor vehicle inspection.

The Vietnam Registry Department said that the above regulations, in the context of a series of localities bringing cases related to vehicle inspection to trial, will lead to the risk of 91 centers in 32 localities having to stop operating, 36 localities are at risk of congestion. There are even localities with "no" vehicle inspection centers such as Bac Kan and Thai Binh.

In addition, many inspection centers have been suspended for continuous periods (over 12 months) due to lack of personnel, repair of facilities, relocation, fire prevention and fighting... not due to violations leading to temporary suspension.

In the above cases, according to current regulations, the competent authority is required to revoke the certificate of eligibility for motor vehicle inspection services and can only consider reissuing it after 36 months from the date of revocation. This reality leads to a shortage of inspection centers, causing great damage to people and businesses.

"The above incidents are unprecedented, arising from the practice of motor vehicle inspection activities that have been happening recently, caused by humans," the Ministry of Transport said.

Close the inspection center if it violates 2 things

Faced with the above difficulties, the Ministry of Transport proposed that the Government promptly amend Decree 139/2018 and Decree 30/2023 regulating motor vehicle business services according to simplified procedures and processes to promptly resolve difficulties in vehicle registration.

After the Government approved the amendment of the above decree according to the simplified procedure, the Ministry of Transport developed and sent the draft decree to ministries and branches for comments.

In particular, the draft decree is amended to abolish the provision of temporary suspension of operations for inspection centers with 3 or more inspectors whose inspection certificates are revoked. Inspection certificates will not be revoked in cases where the court has convicted them, given a suspended sentence, not banned from practicing, or given non-custodial reform.

Notably, the Ministry of Transport proposed to add two regulations on revoking certificates of eligibility for motor vehicle inspection activities.

Accordingly, the competent authority will revoke the license when the inspection unit uses tools and software to modify vehicle data and inspection data to legalize information and vehicle inspection results; does not maintain a department to handle work related to inspection records during the time the unit stops inspecting motor vehicles.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the addition of the above sanctions aims to ensure state management of inspection units, avoiding cases where units do not maintain a department to handle work related to inspection records during the suspension of motor vehicle inspection activities.

Notably, in recent times, the inspection industry has seen some units using software to falsify vehicle records. This violation directly affects the inspection results, so additional sanctions should be added to increase deterrence.