Uber and Grab will be under strict management (Photo vietnamnet.vn)HCM City (VNA) –The Ministry of Transport has submitted the draft of a new circular thatincludes regulations for passenger transport (by car) through software such asUber and Grab.
“Adjustments in the new circular would like to balance the management ofpassenger transport with electronic contracts through software such as Uber andGrab and traditional taxis as well as to be appropriate with the demands ofpractical management,” Minister Nguyen Van The told the Tuoi Tre (Youth)newspaper.
The new circular will request transport companies to meet 10 conditions,including: having a business licence or business registered certification to doelectronic business and having certification from the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT) confirming that applicants have completed registration (both Uberand Grab haven’t met this requirement yet).
Importantly, software providers must sign contracts to provide software usingservices for transport companies that have transport licences instead of thecurrent cooperation agreements.
Transport companies must display their logos at a minimum of 90mm x 80mm inboth front and back windows.
To ensure tax collection, the circular clearly states that software providersand transport companies must provide all information related to trips andelectronic bills to both the passengers’ accounts and the General Department ofTax (GDT), under the regulation of the Ministry of Finance.
For enterprises who would like to use electronic bills, the circular requires11 conditions, including using software which has already been certified by theMoIT, sending electronic bills to the GDT and providing telephone numbers tocustomers for emergencies.
Cars under nine seats, which are used for electronic-bill transportation, mustnot be more than 12 years old, same as the regulation for traditional taxis.
“The presence of Uber and Grab has provided commuters with more options andconvenience and local authorities with more management experience. However,there remains a lack of specific conditions for them to operate, thus leadingto unfair competition", Vu Anh Tuan, Director of the Viet Duc University’sTransport Research Centre, told the newspaper.
“If they want to continue doing business after two years of a pilot scheme forride-hailing apps in Vietnam, Uber and Grab should have a legal representative,pay tax, report their activities, pay social and health insurance for driversand foster the skills of their drivers,” he added.
He also suggested that local managers should limit Uber and Grab’s number ofvehicles to ensure fair competition with traditional taxis and reduce trafficcongestion.
According to the Ministry of Transport, the four localities that haveregistered to officially join the pilot scheme are Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Khanh Hoaand HCM City, whereas Da Nang has yet to take part in. Of 36,800 membervehicles, there are 21,600 in HCM City, 15,000 in Hanoi, 62 in Quang Ninh and100 in Khanh Hoa.
In HCM City alone, Grab Taxi has more than 18,100 vehicles and Uber over 3,600vehicles. The respective numbers of Grab Taxi and Uber vehicles in Hanoi aresome 11,400 and nearly 2,400.-VNA
VNA
