Car inspection is more difficult than taking care of a pregnant wife

Officers of the 34-04D Motor Vehicle Inspection Center inspect vehicles.

That was the lament of a car owner who had to show up at midnight to queue up for his turn to have his vehicle inspected. This is also a common situation in many localities across the country recently, including Hai Duong. The overload and congestion at inspection centers (TTĐK) like an oil slick has spread rapidly in direct proportion to the number of TTĐKs that have been "whistled" because officials have been arrested for giving and receiving bribes.

As of March 10, police agencies nationwide have prosecuted and detained more than 400 leaders and inspectors at about 70 motor vehicle inspection units, with 55/281 inspection units having stopped operating, leading to serious congestion at many inspection centers.

In Hai Duong, on March 10, the Investigation Police Agency of the Provincial Police decided to prosecute the case and prosecute 3 defendants for accepting bribes at the Motor Vehicle Registration Center 34-04D in Kim Xuyen Commune (Kim Thanh). This is the second center to be convicted among the 6 registration centers in Hai Duong. On March 13, the registration center in Kim Xuyen Commune resumed operations, the whole province currently has 5/6 registration centers in operation, while the registration center 34-05D in Lien Hong Commune (Hai Duong City) has not been able to resume operations (previously, a number of individuals at this center were arrested for being involved in giving and receiving bribes).

In the past few days, long lines of cars have been lined up on the way to the gate of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center 34-01D in Viet Hoa Ward (Hai Duong City), the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center 34-03D in Dong Tam Commune (Ninh Giang)... Some car owners who came to register for inspection at the Motor Vehicle Inspection Center 34-01D said that they came to register for inspection at 5:00 a.m. but by 2:00 p.m. they still had to queue outside and could not enter the center. Some drivers said they would wait overnight at the gate of the center so they could register for inspection tomorrow.

The suspension of many inspection centers nationwide is causing many consequences: people whose vehicles are due for inspection complain about the time and effort it takes to wait, while inspection officers are stressed and overloaded due to the sudden increase in work. Households living near inspection centers are frustrated because the long line of vehicles blocking their front doors affects their daily life and business activities.

Many car owners are worried because if they do not have time to register, they will not have a car to go to work or take their children to school, and those who provide transportation services will have to stop running. In some places, there has been a situation of "registration brokers", people who do not have time or patience to wait can spend millions of dong to hire someone to register for them.

To reduce overload at the inspection centers, the Department of Transport (DOT) recently sent a document to the inspection centers requesting that when there are vehicles, they must arrange enough human resources and equipment to conduct inspections 6 days/week (only closed on Sundays) and work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. every day (except lunch break). To save time and limit congestion and overload at the inspection centers, the department recommends that vehicle owners should proactively repair and maintain their vehicles, check and handle traffic violation fines... before going to the vehicle inspection center.

The Ministry of Transport is proposing that the Government and the Prime Minister issue a Resolution allowing the application of a number of specific mechanisms and policies to resolve the congestion of automobile inspections, such as allowing vehicles whose registration is overdue for inspection within 15 days to be allowed to move to inspection units for inspection. Reducing internship time for students who have practical work experience and meet the full professional capacity for inspection activities...

To reduce the pressure on inspectors at the operating registration centers, the Department of Transport is requested to mobilize inspectors from the center that is currently closed to reinforce the remaining 4 centers. The transport sector should digitize some registration procedures, publicize the inspection capacity of each registration center/day, the number of vehicles queuing for procedures at each registration center on the website, fanpage of the sector, and registration centers so that vehicle owners can check in advance and choose units with fewer people queuing...

KIM THANH