The Ministry of Public Security is finalizing a draft decree to amend and supplement Decree 168/2024 on administrative penalties in road traffic, including points deduction and restoration for driving licenses. The proposal includes increasing the on-duty traffic police's fine authority from 500,000 VND to 7.5 million VND, a 15-fold increase.

A representative from the Traffic Police Department (C08) stated that the draft does not propose raising the fine amounts for citizens' violations. Instead, it increases the "authority limit" so officers can issue on-the-spot sanction decisions.

This proposal aims to allow individuals who commit certain violations, with fines under 7.5 million VND, to pay directly to the traffic police officers enforcing the law (administrative penalties without a written record).

This means procedures will be streamlined, and citizens will not have to visit the treasury, a bank, or pay fines via public service portals.

According to the analysis in the submission, changing the traffic police's authority aligns with Decree 189/2025, which details the Law on Handling Administrative Violations (recently amended and supplemented). Specifically, public security officers on duty have the right to impose fines up to 10% of the maximum fine in the corresponding field.

In road traffic, the current maximum fine is 75 million VND. Therefore, traffic police officers can issue on-the-spot fines up to 7.5 million VND, ensuring consistency with legal regulations and aligning with the reorganization of state agencies and two-tier government.

Traffic police in Ho Chi Minh City on duty in the Binh Phuoc overpass area (formerly Thu Duc City). Photo: Quynh Tran

Fines remain unchanged, prohibited behaviors added

Comparing the draft with the current Decree 168, it is evident that most fine frameworks for common road traffic violations in Articles 6, 7, 8, and 9, such as alcohol concentration violations, speeding, and improper lane usage, are maintained to ensure legal stability.

Changes in this group primarily focus on describing behaviors more thoroughly and precisely to ensure accuracy when imposing penalties, mainly concerning transport businesses, according to the C08 representative.

For instance, the draft adds the behavior of "using materials, substances, or devices to alter the identifiable features of a vehicle's license plate" to the regulations on license plate violations, aiming to prevent sophisticated methods used to evade surveillance cameras.

Violations regarding cargo dimensions are also redefined, changing the calculation for carrying goods exceeding the front/rear of the vehicle's cargo bed from "over 1.1 times" to "over 10% of the vehicle's total length" as designed.

Cargo transport violations are standardized. The prohibition on "transporting unsecured goods or goods secured but not safely" is supplemented with "transporting loose goods, construction materials in vehicles without or with insufficient container walls."

The draft also proposes adding a series of solutions to purify cargo and passenger transport services, restrict "overcrowding," and illegal operations, with fines equivalent to existing levels in Decree 168/2024. This means fine amounts remain unchanged, only prohibited behaviors are added.

For example, the draft adds the behavior of "using personal cars to transport passengers for money or accepting bookings like a commercial transport vehicle without registration," with a fine of 12-14 million VND, similar to other behaviors in the same group under Article 20.

Additionally, the draft includes "internal transport vehicles" in violations previously focused only on commercial transport vehicles, such as regulations on continuous driving time or not installing or falsifying dashcam data.

In summary, the changes in the draft are intended to synchronize legal regulations and tighten management over transport sectors still facing many shortcomings.

The draft, developed by the Ministry of Public Security, is open for public comments until 19/4 and is expected to take effect from 1/7. The mandatory installation of cameras in passenger compartments is projected for 1/1/2029.

Viet An - Hai Thu