Vietnamese motorists, who already complain (like motorists everywhere) that they have to pay far too much for petrol, are likely to see prices go up to nearly $1 dong per liter.

Vietnamese motorists, who already complain (like motorists everywhere) that they have to pay far too much for petrol, are likely to see prices go up to nearly $1 dong per liter.

A bill under review by the National Assembly would send 1000 dong per liter of petrol to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry for environmental protection. And now the Ministry of Transportation (MOT) has rolled out its own fund-raising proposal.

A draft decree now before the Prime Minister would require petrol users to pony up another 1000 dong for the new “Road Maintenance Fund” as of July 1 2010. Diesel users – that is buses and trucks – would have to pay 100-800 dong per kilometer.

As of June 9, the official price of the 92-octane petrol used in motorbikes was 15,990 dong per liter ($0.84).

In its draft decree, MoT analyzed the necessity of the Road Maintenance Fund and introduced three options to collect the fee from petrol users.

Option one would be to collect it from petrol wholesalers, and refund a portion to petrol buyers who don’t use the fuel for traveling.

Option two would be to collect the fee when buyers register their new cars or motorbikes, and also when these are checked periodically for compliance with environmental standards.

Option three would be to collect the fee ‘at the pump’ from vehicles using petrol and oil.

The MoT has recommended Option Three to the Government.

Diesel-fueled vehicles will have to be equipped with a specialized odometer to measure the distance. Until these are installed, drivers will have to pay monthly fee from 180,000 to 1.4 million dong.

PV