It is not yet mandatory to convert paper driver's licenses to PET cards.

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People are rushing to exchange their driver's licenses in Ho Chi Minh City.

On October 10th, in an interview with VietNamNet, Mr. Ngo Dinh Quang - Head of the Driving License Examination and Issuance Management Department (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport) said that recently, there has been a surge of people in the city exchanging their driving licenses.

The reason given is that the driver's license renewal facility at 252 Ly Chinh Thang (Ward 9, District 3) temporarily ceased operations for about a month for repairs, causing people to flock to the application receiving points at 8 Nguyen Anh Thu (Trung My Tay Ward, District 12) and 111 Tan Son Nhi (Tan Son Nhi Ward, Tan Phu District), resulting in overcrowding.

On the other hand, Mr. Quang argued that, according to Circular 32/2023 of the Ministry of Public Security , traffic police patrols and inspections are authorized to check documents via the VNeID application, without requiring physical presentation. Therefore, to facilitate the implementation of Level 2 identification, which integrates various documents, including driver's licenses, into the VNeID application, people are rushing to exchange their driver's licenses for PET cards to comply with the regulations.

"Previously, most people's paper driver's licenses were issued based on their ID card numbers, so they couldn't be integrated into the VNeID application. Therefore, to integrate their information, people had to switch to PET cards."

"In addition, paper-based driver's licenses are not yet included in the national database, so people cannot renew them online and have to go to driver's license renewal points to complete the procedure, causing long queues," Mr. Quang said.

People are rushing to exchange their driver's licenses.

The head of the Driving License Examination and Issuance Management Department stated that the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, which is being prepared by the Ministry of Public Security, has not yet been approved by the National Assembly .

"Regarding the driver's license renewal for data integration, when participating in traffic, people can use the data integrated into the VNEID application to present to competent authorities for verification of their documents."

"If the integration hasn't happened yet, people can still use their existing paper vehicle registration documents and driver's licenses that are still valid. No agency is requiring them to switch," Mr. Quang emphasized.

However, Mr. Quang stated that if people need to renew their driver's licenses, the Department of Transportation will find a solution, working with the City Post Office to open application receiving points. At the same time, the Department will also increase staffing at driver's license renewal points to serve the needs of the people.

Accordingly, the procedure for exchanging a paper driver's license for a PET card only requires an application for exchange, a photocopy of the driver's license, and a chip-embedded citizen identification card; the fee is 135,000 VND as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance.

People sat for hours waiting to exchange their paper driver's licenses for PET cards at Tien Bo Vocational School of Transportation.

As reported by VietNamNet, according to Article 49 of the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, prepared by the Ministry of Public Security, road users must carry documents such as driver's licenses, vehicle registration certificates, inspection certificates, and insurance policies. However, if the information from these documents has already been integrated into an electronic identification account or national identity card, the driver does not need to carry them.

With this regulation, drivers will no longer need to carry vehicle documents as these documents will be integrated into their VNeID account. Authorities will only verify vehicle and driver information through this application.

Many people in Ho Chi Minh City, hearing rumors that they would be required to switch to PET cards, worried about the high demand and potential difficulties in the future, so they rushed to do it early, causing overcrowding at driver's license renewal centers.

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Principal of Tien Bo Vocational School of Transportation, the rush of people exchanging their driver's licenses has been going on for about a week now.

This center used to receive only 400 applications a day, but now its capacity has doubled. Simultaneously, the staff have extended their working hours from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM daily to meet the demand, but they still can't keep up.

Mr. Dung said that if the situation remains tense, the school will propose to the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport to increase staff to expand infrastructure to serve the needs of the people.

People in Ho Chi Minh City rushed to exchange their driver's licenses after hearing rumors online. Fearing overcrowding once the draft Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety is passed, people flocked to exchange their driver's licenses from early morning.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chua-bat-buoc-doi-bang-lai-xe-dang-giay-sang-the-pet-2200040.html