Decree 119/2024 on electronic toll collection mandates that vehicle owners must switch their existing toll accounts to the new electronic system and link them to a cashless payment method by 1/10/2025. Non-compliant vehicles will be barred from passing through toll booths.
Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Road Administration, reported that 3 million out of the more than 5.8 million vehicles nationwide have already linked their accounts to a cashless payment method. The remaining 2.8 million owners have yet to make the switch due to various reasons, including lack of awareness, no immediate need to use toll roads, or difficulties linking their accounts to their bank accounts.
Throughout September, the Vietnam Road Administration and toll service providers discovered that approximately 900,000 of the 2.8 million inactive accounts had recorded transactions.
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Applying an ETC sticker at the TP HCM - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway. Photo: Quynh Tran |
Applying an ETC sticker at the TP HCM - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway. Photo: Quynh Tran
To address potential congestion at toll booths after 1/10 due to non-compliant vehicles, Mr. Thang stated that investors and BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) project enterprises have been instructed to collaborate with toll service providers to develop contingency plans for all possible technical issues.
Road Management Zones have been tasked with coordinating with traffic police to manage traffic flow and ensure safety and smooth operation. Toll booth staff will be available to assist drivers with account conversion and traffic management as needed.
A representative of VETC Automatic Toll Collection Co., Ltd. (VETC) reported that as of September, nearly 1.8 million VETC account holders have transitioned to the new system. Delays in switching could lead to vehicles being denied passage through toll booths and difficulties in retrieving transaction records for complaints.
VETC has received inquiries from numerous drivers about why funds cannot be deducted directly from their bank accounts at toll booths. The current system requires transactions to be processed within a short timeframe (under 200 milliseconds), a speed that banks cannot currently handle. Only specialized toll service providers can meet these speed requirements reliably and securely without transaction errors.
Many users have also questioned whether the new electronic toll accounts hold funds. According to Decree 119/2024, these accounts only store personal and vehicle identification information and do not hold funds. All payments are processed through linked electronic payment methods.
Regarding remaining balances in old toll accounts, VETC confirms that users can transfer these funds to their VETC wallets or continue using them for future transactions.
Doan Loan
