On July 1, 2023, the Ministry of Public Security issued Circular No. 24/2023/TT-BCA ("Circular 24") which regulates the issuance and revocation of vehicle registration and license plates, replacing Circular No. 58/2020/TT-BCA dated June 16, 2020. Circular 24 introduces new principles in the vehicle registration and license plate issuance process. Here are some key points summarized from Circular 24:
1. Changes in registration authority to enhance decentralization to district-level police agencies
Under Circular 24, the registration authority for motor vehicles remains with the General Police Department. However, the authority of other police and public security agencies has changed as follows:
a) The Traffic Police Department of provinces and centrally-run cities is responsible for registering motor vehicles in the following cases:
- Motor vehicles owned by organizations or individuals with headquarters or residence in the districts or cities under the central administration; cities, districts, or towns in the province where the Traffic Police Department is located (additional inclusion of objects in cities, districts, or towns in the province).
- Motor vehicles with auctioned license plates or vehicles registered for the first time as a result of confiscation according to the law (new objects).
- Motorcycles with a displacement of 175 cm3 and above are owned by organizations or individuals locally.
- Motor vehicles and motorcycles owned by foreign organizations or individuals, including consular agencies locally (additional inclusion of consular agencies).
b) The district-level police are responsible for registering the following types of vehicles: automobiles and motorcycles owned by domestic organizations or individuals with headquarters or residences in the locality (excluding types of vehicles belonging to other agencies).
c) The commune-level police carry out vehicle registration (excluding cases under the jurisdiction of the General Police Department and the Traffic Police Department) as follows:
- Commune-level police in districts and towns under central administration are responsible for registering motorcycles owned by domestic organizations or individuals with headquarters or residences in the locality.
- Commune-level police in districts, towns, and provinces (excluding the Traffic Police Department, district-level police, and towns and cities with headquarters) with new registrations of 150 motorcycles per year or more (average over the past 3 years) are responsible for registering motorcycles owned by domestic organizations or individuals with headquarters or residence in the locality (the previous regulation did not differentiate between areas and only applied to communes with new registrations of 250 motorcycles per year or more).
2. Registration allowed at temporary residence
Under the previous regulation, the vehicle registrant had to present their household registration book in the registration dossier. This requirement implied that the registrant had to be a permanent resident in the locality to register a vehicle. However, Circular 24 allows individuals with temporary residence in any locality to register a vehicle at the local vehicle registration agency, except for cases where organizations or individuals win an auction for an automobile license plate.
3. Individuals can register vehicles from the age of 15 and above
Previously, there were no specific age requirements for vehicle registration in the law. In practice, vehicle registration was carried out based on the Road Traffic Law 2008 (from the age of 16 for motorcycles with a displacement below 50cm3 and from the age of 18 for other types of vehicles). However, Circular 24 allows individuals aged 15 and above to register vehicles. In the case of individuals aged between 15 and under 18 registering a vehicle, their legal guardian's consent must be obtained and stated in the registration declaration.
Note that being allowed to register a vehicle only confirms the ownership rights in terms of legality. The minimum age for using and operating motor vehicles in traffic must still comply with the regulations in the Road Traffic Law 2008.
4. Vehicle license plates are issued and managed based on the owner's identification code ("Identification License Plate"):
According to Circular 24, the structure of vehicle license plates remains the same (five-digit plates) as per previous regulations, but they will be managed based on the owner's identification code. In the case of the owner changing their headquarters or residence from one province or centrally-run city to another, they can keep the same identification license plate (without having to change the license plate number).
Furthermore, when transferring ownership, if the vehicle is damaged or expired, or the owner wants to keep the license plate, they can retain the same identification license plate when registering another vehicle under their ownership. However, the owner must go through the process of revoking the license plate and can only retain it for a period of 5 years from the date of revocation.
If the owner fails to go through the revocation process after transferring ownership, they will be held legally responsible for any violations related to that vehicle.
5. The vehicle owner must personally go through the license plate revocation process when transferring ownership
- The vehicle owner must retain the vehicle registration certificate and license plate (not handing them over to the recipient of the ownership transfer) and submit the vehicle registration certificate and license plate to the registration agency for the revocation process within 30 days from the date of completing the ownership transfer paperwork.
- If the vehicle owner fails to carry out the revocation process or hand over the vehicle registration certificate and license plate to the recipient for the revocation process beyond the above-mentioned deadline, they will be penalized before proceeding with the necessary procedures.
Circular 24 will come into effect on August 15, 2023.
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