Tens of thousands of vehicles are stranded due to inspection delays.

Commercial vehicle business suffers heavy losses.

Yesterday morning, May 10th, many large-capacity transport vehicles registering for inspection at the 61-03S Vehicle Inspection Center in Thu Dau Mot City (Binh Duong Province) were extremely disappointed to see the notice: "Vehicles weighing over 2.5 tons and passenger vehicles with more than 16 seats have been issued inspection appointment slips valid until the end of July 2023. The next appointment slip issuance for August will take place on July 25th."

A representative from a transportation company in Binh Duong expressed frustration: "Our company rents out trailers, but many are currently sitting idle because their inspection certificates have expired, or renters have returned them because they cannot be inspected. Meanwhile, although some localities have implemented online registration for vehicle inspections, the online vehicle inspection appointment booking app is overloaded, causing appointments to be automatically deleted, resulting in significant losses for vehicle owners and transportation businesses. Waiting and making multiple trips incur additional costs; vehicles that cannot be inspected have no revenue, while bank interest, road maintenance fees, employee salaries, etc., still have to be paid."

Drivers queue overnight for vehicle inspection, frustrated that they only move a hundred meters all day.

Without a decisive solution, the vehicle inspection congestion will last for another six months.

Speaking to a reporter from Thanh Nien newspaper, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, representative of the Binh Duong Transport Association, said that the inability to register vehicles for inspection has caused significant losses for many individuals and transport companies, even risking breaches of transport contracts and compensation claims. "The Binh Duong Transport Association proposes the implementation of a website and application for scheduling vehicle inspections; creating a visual map showing the number of available inspection slots in each province and city in real-time; so that drivers can know and arrange their schedules to complete the inspection within the day. In addition, we request that the authorities extend the deadline for vehicles that are due by 3-6 months. This will immediately address the pressing issues in vehicle inspections and also provide support for transport businesses," Mr. Nguyen Van Hung said.

Mr. Dinh Nam Dinh, Director of Transport Cooperative No. 9 (Ho Chi Minh City), said: "The current vehicle inspection situation is like 'a bird hit by an arrow,' so we are always worried and cautious. Previously, before the incident, vehicle inspections were very smooth, even without corruption, they passed easily. Now, commercial vehicles are at a disadvantage as inspection procedures are stricter than before. Waiting in line is difficult, and passing the inspection is even harder. Even vehicles that pass have to wait because the inspection center is hesitant to issue the certificate. The current inspection capacity cannot meet the demand, and there is also a reluctance to issue certificates, causing more difficulties for businesses and cooperatives. We haven't compiled accurate statistics, but a large number of our cooperative's vehicles have expired inspections. Of course, when vehicles haven't passed inspection, we don't dare put them out for business, so the extent of the damage is impossible to calculate."

Businesses are struggling because trailers are sitting idle until they can be inspected.

Mr. Minh Long, the owner of a transportation business in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is still upset because six of his vehicles, registered through the app, had their inspections canceled without reason. "By this time, all of our vehicles should have been inspected on schedule. However, the sudden cancellation by the vehicle inspection app has left all six vehicles idle because the rescheduled appointments have been moved to June. Each vehicle has lost approximately 150 million VND per month in revenue, while drivers' and staff salaries still have to be maintained," Mr. Minh Long lamented.

A leader from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport also acknowledged: "Out of 1,750 buses currently in operation, there are still 1,300 that have not yet been inspected. The overload in vehicle inspection has significantly affected people and businesses, as vehicles have to sit idle for months at a time. This overload situation cannot be resolved overnight."

An immediate solution is needed.

According to a survey by Thanh Nien newspaper, on automotive forums and through direct interviews, the frustration of citizens and businesses surrounding vehicle inspection is escalating. In Ho Chi Minh City, 15 out of 19 vehicle inspection centers are operational, but only about 56% of the inspection lines have sufficient staff. Therefore, the daily inspection capacity is currently only 50% of what it used to be, equivalent to 1,860 vehicles per day. Meanwhile, not including the number of vehicles that have not been inspected from previous months, in April alone, the busiest month of the year, 88,000 vehicles were due for inspection. In May, 65,000 vehicles with Ho Chi Minh City license plates will be due for inspection. The situation of overcrowding and waiting for their turn for inspection will become even more tense.

Many vehicle inspection centers will not accept truck inspections until August 2023.

Currently, the cancellation of registered inspection slots is quite common. At Inspection Center 2911D (Dong Son, Chuong My, Hanoi ), Mr. Bui Minh Kien, in charge of the center, said that both inspection lines are still operating at full capacity, inspecting an average of 120 vehicles per day. The center issues appointment slips directly between 7-8 AM and 1-2 PM daily, but the schedule is already full until June 6th. Despite this, in recent days, there have been numerous cases of vehicle owners scheduling inspections but failing to show up. At Inspection Center 8904D (Van Giang, Hung Yen), the number of vehicles canceling inspection appointments in recent days has also reached 40% (approximately more than 50 vehicles/day).

"Many vehicle owners, worried about overload and not being able to get their vehicles inspected on time, have obtained appointment slips from multiple locations through both direct delivery and the vehicle inspection app. They only go to the inspection center that has a pre-scheduled appointment. This is one of the reasons leading to the situation of 'fake' inspection appointments or canceled inspection slots. In addition, the reason may be that people have a wait-and-see attitude after learning that vehicles carrying up to 9 passengers and not used for commercial transport may have their inspection cycles automatically extended, so they don't bring their vehicles for inspection according to their scheduled appointments," Mr. Kien commented.

Mr. Dinh Nam Dinh, a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Automobile Transport Association, suggested: "The solution of automatically extending the vehicle inspection cycle for non-commercial vehicles with fewer than 9 seats within this inspection cycle needs to be implemented soon to reduce the burden on vehicle inspection centers. In addition, overtime work, including working on weekends, at vehicle inspection centers needs a mechanism regarding wages and additional income for inspectors. Furthermore, I propose that the income mechanism of vehicle inspection centers should be flexible nationwide, not rigid. For example, they should have the right to collect additional service fees, bonus funds, etc., to increase inspectors' income. If the work is high-pressure but the income is not commensurate, it is very easy for corruption to occur."

To reduce the burden of vehicle inspections in Ho Chi Minh City, it is necessary to restore all inspection lines; there is no other way. The recent extension of vehicle inspection schedules stipulated by the Ministry of Transport will only take effect in practice after at least six months. This is because non-commercial vehicles still have to undergo inspections when due, and only then will the extended time be added to the new inspection cycle. For new cars, although owners do not have to bring their vehicles to the inspection station, they still have to go there to submit documents and obtain the inspection sticker, leading to continued congestion at inspection centers. Therefore, the solutions currently being implemented will only take effect in another three months.

Mr. Bui Hoa An , Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/hang-chuc-ngan-xe-nam-bai-vi-un-tac-dang-kiem-185230510124823551.htm