Proposal to apply non-stop toll collection at all airports

The Ministry of Transport has just requested the Government Office to report to the Government leaders to allow a pilot application of non-stop toll collection (ETC) at airports, instead of manual collection as is currently the case.

The policy of implementing non-stop toll collection at airports has been directed by the Government for a long time. However, after many years, this has not been implemented due to legal difficulties.

The Ministry of Transport believes that amending the decision to expand toll collection requires a roadmap, so the Ministry has proposed piloting non-stop toll collection at Tan Son Nhat and Noi Bai airports for a period of 6 months.

Regarding this pilot proposal, the Ministry of Transport has sought opinions from ministries and sectors. Basically, opinions do not oppose the implementation of non-stop toll collection at airport toll stations as proposed by the Ministry of Transport. At the same time, ministries and sectors also suggested that it is necessary to review and amend to adjust the project and adjust related legal regulations to ensure consistency and unity.

The Ministry of Transport has directed service providers and relevant agencies to seriously study, review, and absorb the opinions of ministries and branches in the process of developing plans and organizing implementation.

Currently, toll service providers have coordinated with Vietnam Airports Corporation and related units to successfully test and are ready to put the non-stop toll collection system at the airport into operation.

“Thus, up to this point, all conditions regarding facilities, technical solutions, and technology to implement non-stop toll collection at airport toll stations are ready and can be implemented immediately…”, said the Ministry of Transport.

The Law on Investment under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) method stipulates that “a PPP project enterprise is an enterprise established by an investor with the sole purpose of signing and implementing a PPP project contract”.

With this regulation, non-stop toll collection service providers are established with the sole purpose of performing the task of collecting road use service fees.

If Vietnam Airports Corporation wants to expand services based on the non-stop toll collection system, it needs to adjust the non-stop toll collection project to add additional services.

In addition, in the Prime Minister's Decision 19/2020 on non-stop road service fee collection, it is also stipulated that the current vehicle owner's toll collection account can only be used to pay road service fees. The non-stop toll collection system as well as this service provider are not intermediary payment service providers.

Therefore, in order to expand other services on the non-stop electronic toll collection system, it is necessary to adjust Decision 19 as a basis for implementation. On the other hand, it takes time and practical experience to research and build a suitable and strict legal basis.