How to get vehicle inspection if license plate has been changed but registration has not been changed?

Currently, there are approximately 1 million commercial transport vehicles that have changed their license plates to yellow but have not updated their vehicle registration certificates. Notably, the majority of these vehicles are mortgaged to banks using their "Vehicle Registration Certificates," leading to problems during vehicle inspections.

Surprised to receive notice of failed vehicle inspection

A week ago, Mr. Nguyen Van H (residing in Nam Tu Liem district) took his car for inspection and was surprised to receive a notification that the inspection was rejected because the license plate was yellow, but the vehicle registration certificate stated a white plate (marked with the letter T).

From 2025, cars with license plates that differ in color from the information on their registration papers will be refused inspection. The Vietnam Automobile Transport Association estimates that approximately 1 million vehicles fall under this category.

Mr. H stated that a year ago, his car was inspected normally. Recently, due to not reading the news much, he was unaware that the regulations had changed, and that vehicles with discrepancies between the information on the vehicle registration and the vehicle registration information would be refused inspection.

For transport business vehicles (yellow license plates) that are no longer in transport business and want to change to a white license plate to match the information on the vehicle registration, the transport business unit must return the badge to the Department of Transport (now the Department of Construction) where it was issued. The Department of Construction will issue a decision to revoke the badge and send it to the transport unit. The transport unit and vehicle owner will bring this decision to the police agency to complete the procedure to change the yellow license plate to a white license plate. The procedure is as simple as changing the vehicle registration.

According to the leaders of vehicle inspection centers, since January 1, 2025, when Government Decree No. 166/2024 comes into effect, each day the units have been rejecting about a dozen cases of vehicles coming for inspection that have information different from the vehicle registration certificate and inspection certificate.

For these types of vehicles, in order to pass inspection, the owner needs to update the information on the vehicle registration to match the actual vehicle, and then have the vehicle re-inspected.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Quyen, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, currently, about 1 million commercial transport vehicles have changed their license plates from white to yellow, but have not updated their vehicle registration certificates as required by Circular No. 58/TT-BCA.

Meanwhile, the majority of commercial vehicles owned by businesses and individuals, including passenger cars, trucks, and taxis, are secured by bank loans using their "Vehicle Registration Certificates" as collateral. Withdrawing or borrowing these "Vehicle Registration Certificates" from the bank to present to the traffic police for "exchange" is not feasible.

If vehicle registration certificates are not updated to match the license plates, vehicles cannot be inspected and are not eligible to circulate on the roads, affecting the operations of businesses and the transportation sector.

Proposing solutions to overcome difficulties

Mr. Nguyen Cong Hung, CEO of Mai Linh Northern Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that the company has thousands of taxis that are facing inspection issues because the license plate color does not match the information on the vehicle registration.

"Brokers" service of changing vehicle registration flourish.

Most vehicles are mortgaged to banks, so to change vehicle registration, you need to borrow the vehicle registration from the bank.

"Mai Linh Company has sent a letter to the bank requesting to borrow the vehicle registration certificate and it has been approved. Through the media, banks have been aware of the difficulties of transport businesses, so borrowing the vehicle registration certificate to complete the procedure of changing the vehicle registration is not difficult," said Mr. Hung.

According to Mr. Hung, the difficulties faced by vehicle owners and businesses are only temporary, and each individual and organization still has the responsibility to comply with legal regulations. Therefore, changing vehicle registration to reflect the actual vehicle is necessary and mandatory.

However, due to the large number of vehicles, Mr. Hung suggested allowing these vehicles to be temporarily registered for a period of 6 months to 1 year. During this time, businesses and vehicle owners will complete the process of updating vehicle registration information.

Regarding this issue, the Vietnam Registering and Inspection Department stated that it had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Transport (now the Ministry of Construction ) to chair a meeting with relevant units to agree on a plan to resolve difficulties in inspecting vehicles that have changed license plates but have not yet changed their registration certificates.

Specifically, consider allowing vehicle owners to temporarily refrain from presenting their updated vehicle registration certificate during inspection procedures for a period of 3 months. This process could extend to 6 months or 1 year (deferred payment).

In these cases, the inspection facility does not issue the original inspection certificate but only issues a copy stamped with "valid for 3 months from the date of issue". Within 3 months, the vehicle owner must complete the vehicle registration change procedure and have the vehicle re-inspected to be issued the original inspection certificate.

Simple procedure

Surveys on online groups related to vehicle inspection easily reveal numerous reports from car owners about being denied inspection because their vehicles had yellow license plates but white registration plates, or vice versa.

Others wanted to know about the procedures and methods for changing vehicle registration certificates in order to pass vehicle inspection. Immediately below these posts, comments from service "brokers" appeared, offering assistance in changing vehicle registration certificates for a fee of 2-3 million VND.

However, there is also a car owner who said that in the past, he hired a "broker" to change the white license plate to a yellow one for the transportation business, but recently discovered that the vehicle's registration at the police agency still shows the white license plate. "To get the vehicle inspected, now I have to change the vehicle registration, it's really "lost money, got sick", said Mr. TN.

Lieutenant Colonel Le Duy Hien, Head of the Thai Binh Commune Police Station, Yen Son District, Tuyen Quang Province, said that currently, the police force has decentralized the task of receiving applications and issuing/renewing vehicle registration certificates for motorcycles and cars to commune and ward police stations.

People go to the police station where they reside to submit a copy of the chassis number and engine number, fill out an application for changing vehicle registration, a certificate of motor vehicle conversion (for converted vehicles), a decision to revoke a business transport vehicle badge (for vehicles changing from yellow to white license plates), pay a fee for changing the vehicle registration certificate (50,000 VND), and a fee for changing the vehicle registration certificate with the license plate (150,000 VND).

After completing the above procedures, the vehicle owner is given an appointment slip to receive the vehicle registration certificate, and can pick up the new registration certificate after 2 working days. "The procedure is very simple, therefore, vehicle owners can completely do it themselves without hiring intermediaries, avoiding additional costs," Lieutenant Colonel Hien advised.

On the other hand, according to the inspection centers, with just a vehicle registration appointment, the vehicle owner can take the vehicle for inspection without having to wait for the original registration. If the vehicle passes the inspection, an inspection sticker will be issued to the vehicle for circulation on the road. When the original vehicle registration is available, the vehicle owner takes it to the inspection center to record it in the inspection file and is issued a registration certificate.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/xe-doi-bien-chua-doi-dang-ky-lam-sao-de-dang-kiem-192250306231421551.htm