Proposed Automatic Inspection Cycle Extension for Nearly 1.4 Million Private Cars

Personal cars with less than 9 seats are proposed to automatically extend the inspection cycle according to the new regulations. Photo: Vinh Phuc.

The Ministry of Transport has issued a document to relevant ministries and the Vietnam Insurance Association for comments on the draft Decree amending and supplementing some provisions of Decree 16 issued in 2021, which regulates the technical safety inspection and environmental protection of road motor vehicles according to a simplified sequence of procedures.

In the proposed transfer regulations, it is proposed to automatically extend the validity of the inspection certificate and inspection seal for non-commercial passenger cars with less than 9 seats.

According to the proposed amendment stated in the draft, inspection certificates and inspection seals that have been issued for the above group of vehicles before March 22nd and are valid until before July 1st, 2024 will continue to be used until the end of the new inspection cycle.

Prior to the content of Decree 02/2023, which came into effect on March 22nd, the inspection cycle of non-commercial passenger cars with less than 9 seats, which have a production time of up to 7 years, was extended to 24 months instead of the previous 18 months as stipulated in the old regulations.

Therefore, if this draft is approved, assuming a family car with less than 9 seats has a production time of less than 7 years and is expected to expire based on the current cycle on June 30th, 2024, it will automatically extend the inspection cycle for an additional 6 months. In the above case, the inspection expiration date will automatically be changed to December 31st, 2024 according to the new inspection cycle regulations in Decree 02/2023.

Proposed automatic extension of the inspection cycle for non-commercial passenger cars with less than 9 seats. Illustration: Truong Hieu.

However, vehicles with inspection deadlines before Decree 02/2023 comes into effect will not immediately apply the new inspection cycle. Drivers or owners of about 155,000 vehicles in this group still need to bring their vehicles to the vehicle registration center to be issued an inspection certificate and inspection seal before applying the new inspection cycle as stipulated in Decree 02/2023.

According to the explanation given by the Ministry of Transport, the content mentioned in this draft aims to solve the fundamental problem of congestion in vehicle inspections at the current stage. At the same time, the aforementioned changes will also meet the inspection needs of individuals and businesses.

According to statistics from the Vehicle Registration Department, nearly 1.4 million non-commercial passenger cars with up to 9 seats are expected to have their inspection deadlines extended by an additional 6 months if the above-mentioned draft is approved. Therefore, vehicle registration units will be able to focus their time and resources on inspecting commercial vehicles and other vehicles that have expired but have not been inspected yet.

The above-mentioned draft has been posted on the Ministry of Transport’s website. According to the plan, the Ministry of Transport will gather feedback from May 25th to May 30th.