Under what circumstances are new cars without license plates allowed on the road?

Nowadays, it's not uncommon to see cars on the road without license plates. Most of these are newly purchased vehicles that haven't had license plates installed yet, or vehicles that have been recently transferred ownership and haven't been re-registered.

According to Article 53 of the Road Traffic Law, vehicles wishing to participate in road traffic must be registered and have license plates issued by competent state authorities. Therefore, during the period without license plates, vehicles are not allowed to circulate on the road, except in cases of temporarily registered vehicles.

Article 12 of Circular 58/2020/TT-BCA specifically lists the following four cases for temporary vehicle registration:

- Vehicles that have not been officially registered or issued license plates but need to participate in traffic;

- Vehicles registered abroad that are permitted by competent authorities to enter Vietnam for tourism, conferences, trade fairs, exhibitions, and sports activities ;

- Vehicles used to serve conferences organized by the Party, State, and Government ;

- Vehicles undergoing procedures to revoke registration certificates and license plates for re-export or transfer within Vietnam, and vehicles subject to decisions on transfer, sale, donation, or gifting.

According to this regulation, people who have recently purchased a vehicle and are waiting for their official vehicle registration and license plates must apply for temporary registration to be allowed to drive on the road.

However, temporary vehicle registration certificates are valid for a maximum of 30 days, and temporarily registered vehicles are only permitted to operate within the timeframe, routes, and scope specified in the temporary registration certificate.

If a vehicle is driven on the road without temporary registration, the driver will be penalized according to the regulations in Decree 100/2019/ND-CP, amended by Decree 123/2021/ND-CP.

Accordingly, driving a car without license plates on the road in violation of regulations is punishable by a fine of 2-3 million VND and suspension of the driver's license for 1-3 months. In cases where a car has license plates but no vehicle registration certificate, the driver will also be fined a similar amount, and the vehicle may be confiscated.

Similarly, for motorcycles, drivers can be fined from 800,000 to 1,000,000 VND for driving a vehicle without license plates. For vehicles without registration papers, drivers will also be fined a similar amount, but the vehicle may be confiscated.

Procedures for issuing temporary vehicle registration

Depending on the type of vehicle and the purpose of temporary registration, the required documents vary as stipulated in Article 13 of Circular 58/2020/TT-BCA as follows:

- For vehicles manufactured and assembled in Vietnam: Vehicle registration application form (form No. 01); Copy of sales invoice or delivery note as prescribed.

- Imported vehicles; temporarily imported for re-export within a specified period, transit vehicles: Vehicle registration application form (according to form No. 01); Copy of the import/export goods declaration or detailed vehicle import declaration.

For vehicles that have completed import procedures, registration procedures, and temporary license plate issuance, the required documents are as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 8 of Circular 58/2020/TT-BCA.

- Vehicles authorized to enter Vietnam by competent authorities (for use in conferences, trade fairs, exhibitions, sports events; foreign vehicles entering Vietnam for tourism ; and vehicles serving conferences organized by the Party, State, and Government): A copy of the vehicle registration certificate or a list of vehicles approved by the competent authority for registration.

- Foreign-owned automobiles registered abroad (right-hand drive, left-hand drive vehicles are permitted to participate in traffic in the form of a van) are allowed to participate in traffic according to the law: Vehicle registration application form (form No. 01); Written permission to participate in traffic in Vietnam from the competent authority.

Minh Hoa (compiled)

Source