Some new points in implementing the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units according to Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP

On May 22, 2025, the Government issued Decree No. 111/2025/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP dated June 21, 2021 of the Government regulating the financial autonomy mechanism of public service units. The Decree takes effect from July 7, 2025 and applies from the 2025 budget year. Some new points are amended and supplemented as follows:

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1. List of public service activities

- The Prime Minister decides to amend, supplement, or promulgate the list of public service activities using state budget funds according to service groups belonging to sectors and fields under his/her management.

- Ministries and central agencies shall issue detailed service lists as a basis for bidding, ordering, and assigning tasks (if necessary).

- In addition to the categories of public service activities already issued by ministries and central agencies, provincial People's Committees shall amend, supplement, or issue lists of public service activities using state budget funds according to the decentralization within the scope of local management and in accordance with the local budget capacity.

2. Economic and technical standards, cost standards

- Economic and technical norms, and cost norms issued or amended by ministries and central agencies according to their respective sectors and fields of management, serve as the basis for issuing prices for public service activities.

- Local authorities shall base their pricing of public service activities on the economic and technical norms and cost norms (if any) issued by ministries and central agencies for various sectors, in accordance with the law on pricing and other relevant legal regulations, to serve as the basis for ordering or bidding for the provision of public service activities as prescribed.

3. Pricing of public service activities

- The price of public service activities using state budget funds: determined according to the provisions of the law on pricing, economic and technical norms, cost norms (if any), and the prescribed roadmap for calculating the price of public service activities using state budget funds.

- Prices for public services not funded by the state budget: Prices are determined by market mechanisms, ensuring cost recovery and reasonable profit accumulation.

4. Classification of public non-profit organizations:  

Adding a condition for determining public non-business units that are self-sufficient in covering recurrent expenditures (group 2): “Units providing public services that do not use state budget funds, with service prices determined according to the provisions of point b, clause 2, Article 6 of Decree 60/2021/ND-CP, are self-sufficient in covering their recurrent expenditures but not yet sufficient in covering investment expenditures.”

5. Determine the level of self-sufficiency for recurrent expenditures:

- Revenue sources that determine the level of autonomy: supplementary revenue from fees retained by public service units for expenditure as prescribed by law on fees and charges; surplus revenue over expenditure from production and business activities; joint ventures and partnerships (after deducting depreciation of fixed assets, establishing funds for salary reform, and fulfilling obligations to the State).

Specifically: For vocational education institutions and higher education institutions: Tuition fee revenue used to determine the level of financial autonomy does not include funds allocated to scholarship funds to encourage learning as prescribed; For higher education institutions: Tuition fee revenue used to determine the level of financial autonomy does not include funds allocated to scientific, technological, and innovation activities as prescribed.

- Expenditures determining the level of autonomy: additional expenditures for carrying out scientific and technological tasks when selected or directly assigned by competent authorities (applicable to public scientific and technological organizations).

- For public service units assigned to perform tasks in various fields: the determination of the unit's level of self-sufficiency in recurrent expenditures is based on revenue sources and expenditure tasks of activities according to the main functions and tasks assigned by competent authorities, which are regular and stable on an annual basis.

6. Financial resources of public service units

- Funding for tasks assigned by the State: supplementary funding for programs/plans/schemes/projects assigned by competent authorities (units in groups 1, 2, and 3); funding for providing public service activities included in the list of public service activities using state budget (unit in group 4).

- Specific regulations on revenue sources for Group 4 public service units: Revenue from fees retained by public service units; Revenue from production and business activities; joint ventures and partnerships; Revenue from leasing public assets.

7. Utilizing Reserve Funds

- The fund for developing professional activities is supplemented with the following expenditure items: maintenance of facilities; purchase of transportation vehicles; payment of land rent and office rent for the unit's operations as prescribed; support for training and professional development for employees in the unit; recruitment and employment of employees, and human resource incentives; payment to superior agencies and units for a portion of the costs of purchasing equipment, repairing, maintaining, renovating, upgrading, and constructing new shared auxiliary facilities; costs for ensuring security and order, fire prevention and control, disease prevention and control, environmental sanitation, and other general management costs.

In cases where the balance of the Business Development Fund of a public service unit exceeds twice the annual depreciation and amortization amount of the unit's fixed assets, and the unit does not need to use it for infrastructure investment or equipment procurement, the unit must remit the remaining balance of the fund not needed for infrastructure investment or equipment procurement to the state budget.

- The welfare fund is supplemented with expenditure items such as: settling benefits and policies upon termination of employment contracts and other expenses as stipulated in the unit's internal spending regulations.

8. Granting financial autonomy to public service units.

After reviewing and verifying the financial autonomy plans of the public service units and based on the opinions of the corresponding financial agency, the superior management agency (Level I budget unit) determines the classification of the units and issues a decision granting financial autonomy to the subordinate public service units; the level of financial support for recurrent expenditures from the state budget, retained fee revenue; and state budget funds for ordering public service provision (if any) for the units according to the financial autonomy plan for the first year of the stabilization period.

The above are some new points in the regulations implementing the autonomy mechanism of public service units. Decree No. 111/2025/ND-CP, when issued, will address some shortcomings and limitations in the implementation of Decree No. 60/2021/ND-CP in the past; create a foundation to promote the process of reforming the financial mechanism of public service units, thereby increasing the level of financial autonomy of public service units and strengthening the management of the state budget based on output results through assigning tasks, placing orders, or bidding for the provision of public services using the state budget.

Source: https://sotaichinh.camau.gov.vn/tin-tuc-hoat-dong/mot-so-diem-moi-trong-thuc-hien-co-che-tu-chu-tai-chinh-cua-don-vi-su-nghiep-cong-lap-theo-nghi--284078