Cars lined up at Long Phuoc toll station, HCMC
At 2:30 p.m. on October 1, Mr. Luong Van Thien drove his personal car past the Long Phuoc toll station on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay highway. Because he had not yet switched to a traffic account, he had to pull over to the VETC (VETC Automatic Toll Collection Company Limited) support station.
The car toll collection account is being used by ePass (Vietnam Digital Traffic Joint Stock Company, part of Viettel Group), so VETC staff did not support because it was under a different management unit, asking him to call the ePass switchboard. After calling many times but could not get in touch, Mr. Thien decided to cancel the ePass account and switch to VETC. The staff here directly did it for him, about 5 minutes later completing the procedures. At that time, other cars continuously pulled into the station to ask for support from VETC staff.
Meanwhile, at this station in the early morning, during rush hour, the traffic congestion lasted nearly 1km because many vehicles had not yet converted to traffic accounts and had to complete conversion procedures. Mr. Lieu Khai Tung, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway Toll Collection Enterprise, said that for about 4 months now, the unit has coordinated with ETC service providers (electronic toll collection) to promote and directly support customers in converting from toll collection accounts to traffic accounts. Thanks to that, most vehicle owners have been instructed to identify and operate quickly, helping vehicles pass through the station smoothly, minimizing congestion.
In the Western region, Mr. Le Lam Quang Tung, in charge of VETC at Soc Trang BOT Station, said that on the first day of implementing the conversion of toll collection accounts to personal traffic accounts, vehicles passing through the station were stable, without any congestion. Many vehicle owners who had not yet converted their accounts came directly to the station to ask and were instructed by VETC staff to convert to accounts according to regulations.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Phuong, in charge of VETC at Can Tho - Phung Hiep BOT Station, said: Over the past 2 days, a large number of vehicle owners have come to the VETC office at the station to ask for support in converting toll collection accounts to traffic accounts. However, the traffic situation through the station is still stable and continuous, without traffic jams. In order to promptly support customers, VETC has increased its human resources to guide vehicle owners in making the conversion, and continuously support from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
On the same day, in the Central region, SGGP reporters were present at the Tuy Loan toll station, located in the North of the Da Nang - Quang Ngai expressway, to record the situation of vehicles passing through the station when applying the traffic account conversion. In general, the traffic volume was sparse, there was no congestion or local congestion.
Mr. Nguyen Van Luong, Head of the Da Nang - Quang Ngai Expressway, in charge of toll collection operations, said that the conversion to the new traffic account was implemented from 0:00 on October 1, but the Ministry of Construction has issued a document allowing foreign businesses and individuals to postpone the application deadline, so no complicated situations have arisen. "If the old VETC and ePass accounts still have money, the vehicle can still pass through the station normally. When these accounts run out of money, the system will automatically block them and the station staff will guide the vehicle owner to switch," said Mr. Luong.
Delay in application for foreigners and businesses
Commenting on the first day of implementation, Mr. Le Quang Hung, Business Director of VETC Automatic Toll Collection Company Limited, said that key expressways were operating stably, without any congestion due to vehicles not having converted their traffic accounts. VETC alone recorded nearly 2 million accounts having completed the conversion. VETC has deployed nearly 1,500 service points nationwide, open throughout Saturdays and Sundays, and increased staff at expressway stations to support identification, bank linkage, balance conversion, and direct customer service.
In an interview with SGGP, the Vietnam Road Administration (VRA) confirmed that the postponement of the account conversion until the end of December 2025 only applies to foreign individuals and businesses. Mr. To Nam Toan, Head of the Department of Science, Technology, Environment and International Cooperation (VRA) explained that it was due to difficulties for foreign businesses and individuals in connecting non-cash payment methods. Therefore, the VRA has requested road use fee payment service providers to continue using toll collection accounts of foreign individuals and businesses until before December 31 to wait for the completion of technical solutions. The VRA recommends that personal vehicles are still required to comply with the deadline of October 1, according to regulations.
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/ngay-dau-tien-thu-hien-thu-phi-tai-khoan-giao-thong-un-tac-cuc-bo-huong-dan-xu-ly-nhanh-post815856.html
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