Decree No. 156/2024/ND-CP on Auctioning Vehicle Registration Numbers

DECREE

REGULATIONS ON AUCTIONING OF LICENSE PLATES

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; the Law Amending and Supplementing Certain Provisions of the Law on Organization of the Government and the Law on Organization of Local Administration dated November 22, 2019;

Pursuant to the Civil Code on November 24, 2015;

BASED ON THE ROAD TRAFFIC ORDER AND SAFETY LAW dated June 27, 2024;

Pursuant to the Auction Law dated November 17, 2016; the Law amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Auction Law dated June 27, 2024;

Pursuant to the Law on Management and Use of State Assets dated June 21, 2017;

Pursuant to the Law on Information Technology dated June 29, 2006;

||| Pursuant to the Cybersecurity Law dated November 19, 2015;

||| Pursuant to the Cyber Security Law dated June 12, 2018;

The Government promulgates this Decree to regulate auctioning of license plates.

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Decree provides detailed regulations on Article 37 and Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024 regarding the auctioning of license plates, including the license plates put up for auction, starting price, deposit, bid increment, bidding document fee, form, method, procedure, process of auctioning license plates, rights and obligations of the successful bidder of license plates, collection, payment, handling of deposits, refund of successful bids.

Article 2. Applicability

1. Ministry of Public Security.

2. Organizations engaged in property auctions, auctioneers selected to auction license plates.

3. Organizations and individuals participating in the auction.

4. Other agencies, organizations, and individuals related to the matter.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

In this Decree, the following terms are understood as follows:

1. Participants in the auction are Vietnamese organizations and individuals who have registered to participate in the auction by submitting valid bidding documents and deposits to the organization engaged in property auctions in accordance with this Decree and other relevant laws.

2. Successful bidder is the participant in the online auction of license plates who offers the highest bid above or equal to the starting price as stipulated in this Decree.

3. Auction of license plates refers to the entire process of auctioning a license plate.

4. Auction session of license plates includes all auctions of license plates organized and implemented according to the approved auction plan.

5. Successful bid amount is the sum of money that the successful bidder pays to obtain the right to use the license plate through issuance of the Decision confirming the successful bid of the license plate.

6. The Ministry of Public Security's license plate auction management system is a set of hardware, software, infrastructure, and transmission designed specifically to serve the management of license plate auctions.

7. Vehicle registration and management system is a set of hardware, software, databases, network devices, security devices, and other connected devices from the Ministry of Public Security to local police units to produce, transmit, collect, process, store, and exchange digital information, serving one or more vehicle registration business activities.

Article 4. Form and Method of Auction

1. Form of auction is online auction.

2. Method of auction is the upward bidding method.

Article 5. License Plates Put Up for Auction

1. License plates put up for auction are automobile, motorcycle, and motorbike license plates as specified in point c and point d, Clause 2, Article 36 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024.

2. The Minister of Public Security decides the number of license plates put up for auction at each auction session, including license plates of provinces and centrally-administered cities within the Vehicle Registration and Management System of the Ministry of Public Security, and supplements the number of license plates for provincial and centrally-administered city police forces when there are no remaining license plates for registration before the next auction session.

Article 6. Starting Price of a License Plate Put Up for Auction

1. The starting price of an automobile license plate put up for auction is forty million Vietnamese dong, increasing once every three years starting January 1, 2025, with each increase being five million Vietnamese dong.

2. The starting price of a motorcycle or motorbike license plate put up for auction is five million Vietnamese dong, increasing once every three years starting January 1, 2025, with each increase being one million Vietnamese dong.

3. The starting price of a license plate with the format AAAAA (A>4), ABCDE (A4) put up for re-auction after the second time is five hundred million Vietnamese dong for automobile license plates and fifty million Vietnamese dong for motorcycle or motorbike license plates.

Article 7. Deposit, Bid Increment

1. The deposit shall be equal to the starting price of one car license plate put up for auction. The deposit must be deposited into a separate payment account of the property auction business organization at a bank from the date of publicizing the auction information until two days before the auction date. In case of winning the auction, the deposit will be transferred to a dedicated account of the Ministry of Public Security to be paid into the state budget according to regulations.

2. The bid increment for auctioning car license plates is VND 5,000,000 (five million); for auctioning motorcycle and motorbike license plates it is VND 500,000 (five hundred thousand).

Article 8. Sale of Application Forms, Handling Fees for Application Forms to Participate in Auctions

1. The fee for selling application forms to participate in auctions is VND 100,000 (one hundred thousand) per car license plate and VND 50,000 (fifty thousand) per motorcycle or motorbike license plate.

2. The property auction business organization shall be responsible for collecting, managing, and using the fees for selling application forms in accordance with Clause 3, Article 66 and Point d, Clause 2, Article 78 of the Auction Law 2016 (amended and supplemented in 2024).

Chapter II

PROCEDURE AND FORMALITIES FOR AUCTIONING LICENSE PLATES

Article 9. Selection of Property Auction Business Organizations

1. The Ministry of Public Security selects property auction business organizations that have an online auction information website, ensuring safe and secure network conditions when connecting to the license plate auction management system to organize the auction of license plates.

2. The criteria for selecting property auction business organizations to organize the auction of license plates are based on the evaluation and scoring of property auction business organizations and technical requirements for the online auction information website as stipulated in Appendix I and Appendix II issued together with this Decree.

3. Announcements regarding the selection and results of the selection of property auction business organizations are regulated in Appendix III and Appendix IV issued together with this Decree.

4. The procedure for selecting property auction business organizations is carried out as follows:

a) Announce the selection of property auction business organizations on the National Property Auction Portal and the Ministry of Public Security's Electronic Information Portal;

b) Establish an Advisory Committee to review the selection application forms of property auction business organizations comprising relevant units under the Ministry of Public Security;

c) Conduct the selection and announce the results of the selection of property auction business organizations on the National Property Auction Portal and the Ministry of Public Security's Electronic Information Portal.

5. The Ministry of Public Security will reselect the property auction business organization if the selected property auction business organization ceases operations, fails to meet the standards and conditions for organizing the auction of license plates, or if the contract is terminated according to the law.

Article 10. Service Auction Contract, Service Auction Price, Auction Costs Paid to Property Auction Business Organization

1. Service Auction Contract for License Plates

The Ministry of Public Security enters into a service auction contract for license plates with the property auction business organization to carry out the auction of license plates. The service auction contract for license plates must be documented in writing and implemented in accordance with civil law and auction law.

2. Service Auction Price, Auction Costs Paid to Property Auction Business Organization:

a) For each successfully auctioned license plate, the service auction price paid to the property auction business organization is calculated at 8% of the starting price specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of Article 6 of this Decree, excluding VAT and auction costs;

b) The auction cost paid to the property auction business organization is VND 10,000 (ten thousand) per car license plate put up for auction and VND 2,000 (two thousand) per motorcycle or motorbike license plate put up for auction.

Article 11. Auction Plan

1. The Minister of Public Security shall approve the auction plan for vehicle license plates for each auction session.

2. The auction plan includes the following main contents:

a) List of vehicle license plates to be auctioned;

b) Starting price, bid increment, and deposit amount;

c) Form and method of organizing the auction;

d) Time of organizing the auction;

đ) Other related contents.

3. The auction plan must be publicly announced on the Ministry of Public Security's electronic portal and the Traffic Police Corps' electronic information portal, with a link to the online auction portal of the auction service provider within five working days from the date of approval.

Article 12. Auction Rules

Based on the auction plan, the auction service provider shall issue the Auction Rules, including the following contents: list of vehicle license plates to be auctioned; auction time; starting price and bid increment; account for deposit payment to participate in the auction; methods of participation in the auction.

Article 13. Public Notice of Auction of Assets

1. The Ministry of Public Security transfers the list of vehicle license plates to be auctioned to the auction service provider, and simultaneously publicly announces the auction plan for vehicle license plates on the Ministry of Public Security's electronic portal and the Traffic Police Corps' electronic information portal, with a link to the online auction portal of the auction service provider.

2. The auction service provider publicly announces the information about the auction plan for assets, the list of vehicle license plates to be auctioned on the National Asset Auction Portal or the online auction portal of the auction service provider and posts it at its headquarters. The Auction Rules are posted and publicly announced on the online auction portal and the headquarters of the auction service provider.

3. The public announcement and posting period for the Auction Rules and the list of vehicle license plates to be auctioned must be at least thirty days before the auction date.

4. The auction service provider publicly discloses the number of participants registered for each listed license plate.

Article 14. Steps to Conduct a Vehicle License Plate Auction

1. Registration to Participate in the Auction

a) Participation registration is conducted entirely through the online auction portal of the auction service provider; participants register to participate in the auction and submit their registration application on the online auction portal; participants bear full responsibility for the accuracy and honesty of the information declared for registration.

b) Participants are provided with an access account and guided on how to use the account, place bids, and other relevant content on the online auction portal to conduct the auction;

c) Participants may choose vehicle license plates according to their needs from the list of license plates to be auctioned from all centrally-administered cities and provinces nationwide to participate in the auction;

d) Participants pay the registration fee and deposit for the selected license plate into the account of the auction service provider as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 7 and Clause 1, Article 8 of this Decree and are issued an auction code for that auction session;

đ) The auction service provider sells auction participation forms, accepts participation forms from the day of posting the auction notice until two days before the auction opening.

2. Participants log into the online auction portal using their access account and follow the procedures for participating in the auction as outlined in the Auction Rules.

3. At the end of the online auction, the online auction portal determines the successful bidder, announces the auction results, displays the auction record for the successful bidder to confirm, and sends a notification to the participant's email address registered with the auction service provider.

4. If only one person registers to participate in the auction after the registration deadline, they will be determined as the successful bidder for the license plate, and they will receive a notification and the winning bid record before the auction date.

5. The auction service provider is responsible for reviewing applications, verifying participant information, assigning an auctioneer to manage the online auction on the online auction portal, and authenticating the auction record with a digital signature to send to the successful bidder.

6. The Ministry of Public Security oversees the auction process, results, verifies the auction record with a digital signature, and other related matters.

Article 15. Cases of suspending auction, revoking participation rights in auction, and handling arising situations

1. The organization conducting property auctions and auctioneers must suspend the auction in the following cases:

a) The Ministry of Public Security requests the organization conducting property auctions to stop organizing the auction when there is evidence indicating that the organization conducting property auctions or the auctioneer has violated the ethical standards for auctioneers and other provisions in the Auction Regulations;

b) Force majeure events.

2. The Ministry of Public Security decides to reorganize the auction after meeting the conditions for organizing the auction as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 9 of this Decree and other relevant laws.

3. Situations where participation rights in the auction are revoked:

a) Providing false information or documents; using forged papers to register for participation in the auction or participate in the auction;

b) Colluding with the auctioneer, the organization conducting property auctions, the owner of the auctioned property, other participants in the auction, individuals, or organizations to suppress prices or distort the auction results;

c) Obstructing the auction activities, using software to affect the auction process or results; causing disruption to the auction;

d) Threatening or coercing the auctioneer or other participants in the auction to distort the auction results;

đ) Other prohibited acts as prescribed by law.

4. In cases of violation of Clause 3 of this Article, the organization conducting property auctions must report to the Ministry of Public Security to suspend recognition or cancel the auction results, and transfer the case to the competent authority for handling according to regulations.

Article 16. Announcing and transferring auction results

1. Within 01 working day from the end of the auction, the organization conducting property auctions must publicly announce the auction results of vehicle license plates on the online auction information website.

2. Within 03 working days from the end of the auction, the organization conducting property auctions must transfer the auction results, auction minutes, and list of successful bidders in electronic form, while transferring the deposit money to the Ministry of Public Security for approval of the successful bid and completion of related procedures.

Article 17. Approving the results of successful bids

Within 07 working days from the date of receiving the auction results, auction minutes, and list of successful bidders in electronic form from the organization conducting property auctions, the Ministry of Public Security issues a Decision approving the results of successful bids.

Article 18. Notifying the results of successful bids

1. The Ministry of Public Security sends an electronic notification of the results of successful bids for vehicle license plates to the email address and sends a notification message to the phone number registered in the access account of the successful bidder within 07 working days after approving the results of successful bids; the electronic notification of the results of successful bids for vehicle license plates replaces the purchase and sale contract of auctioned property or the sale contract of state-owned property.

2. The contents of the notification of the results of successful bids include: the license plate number of the successful bid, the name and identification code of the individual or organization (in the case where the organization has not been assigned an identification code, the tax code or establishment decision number should be recorded), the address of the successful bidder, the winning bid price, the amount of money to be paid, the bank account opened by the Ministry of Public Security at a bank or foreign bank branch for payment of the winning bid, the deadline for payment of the winning bid, cancellation of the auction result if the full amount of the winning bid is not paid as prescribed.

Article 19. Payment of Auction Proceeds

Within thirty days from the date of receipt of the electronic Notification of Auction Results, the successful bidder must deposit the full amount of the auction proceeds, after deducting the bid deposit, into the dedicated account of the Ministry of Public Security at a bank or foreign bank branch. The auction proceeds do not include vehicle registration fees.

Article 20. Issuance of Decision Confirming Vehicle Registration Number Won in Auction

Immediately upon receiving the full auction proceeds, the Ministry of Public Security shall issue an electronic invoice for the sale of state assets and send an electronic Decision Confirming the Vehicle Registration Number Won in Auction to the email address of the successful bidder for vehicle registration purposes.

Article 21. Cancellation of Auction Results

1. The auction results for vehicle registration numbers will be canceled in the following cases:

a) The successful bidder or the auction service organization requests it and receives written approval from the Ministry of Public Security.

b) The auction service contract, Notification of Auction Results, and Decision Confirming the Vehicle Registration Number Won in Auction are declared void by the Court, determined not to be due to the violation of the successful bidder according to civil law regulations.

c) The successful bidder dies within thirty days from the date of the Notification of Auction Results but has not yet received the Decision Confirming the Vehicle Registration Number Won in Auction;

d) The successful bidder dies within twelve months from the date of issuance of the Decision Confirming the Vehicle Registration Number Won in Auction or during the period approved by the Ministry of Public Security for extending the registration deadline for the won vehicle registration number but has not completed the registration procedures;

đ) The successful bidder fails to pay or does not fully pay the auction proceeds within the time limit specified in Article 19 of this Decree. The Ministry of Public Security will send an electronic notification regarding disqualification from participating in auctions for a period of twelve months from the date of the Notification of Auction Results according to point a, clause 2, Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024;

e) The successful bidder fails to complete the registration procedures for the won vehicle registration number as stipulated in point b, clause 2, Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024;

g) Other cases where the right to participate in auctions is revoked according to clause 3, Article 15 of this Decree.

2. If the successful bidder does not confirm the auction record, the Ministry of Public Security will not issue the Notification of Auction Results in this case.

3. The won vehicle registration number will be put up for auction again or transferred back to the Vehicle Registration and Management System; the bid deposit and auction proceeds paid by the successful bidder will not be refunded except in the cases specified in points a, b, c, and d of clause 1 of this Article and will be deposited into the state budget.

Article 22. Management of Won Vehicle Registration Numbers

1. The won vehicle registration number will only be issued to the successful bidder except in the case provided for in point c, clause 1, Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024.

2. Procedures for registering won vehicle registration numbers shall be carried out in accordance with the law on vehicle registration.

Article 23. Extension of Vehicle Registration Deadline in Cases of Force Majeure or Objective Obstacles

1. In cases of force majeure or objective obstacles, if the successful bidder has not completed the registration procedures to attach the won registration number, the successful bidder must submit a Request for Extension of Vehicle Registration Deadline (according to Form No. 01 issued together with this Decree) through the Ministry of Public Security's Auction Management System and submit supporting documents (original copies) to the Ministry of Public Security via the Traffic Police Corps for consideration and resolution.

2. The Ministry of Public Security will consider and resolve the request and notify the successful bidder of the result electronically.

3. The extension period shall not exceed six months as stipulated in point b, clause 2, Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024.

Chapter III

COLLECTION, PAYMENT, AND HANDLING OF BID DEPOSITS, REFUND OF AUCTION PROCEEDS

Article 24. Collection, submission of auction proceeds and expenses for auction activities before remitting to the state budget

1. The Ministry of Public Security shall open a dedicated account at a bank or foreign bank branch to collect auction proceeds.

2. The contents of expenses for auction activities before remitting to the state budget include:

a) Expenses for organizing the auction (service fees for the auction, expenses paid to property auction practitioners under Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree, messaging costs, invoice costs, costs for resolving queries during the organization of the auction, and other legitimate costs);

b) Advertising costs;

c) Management costs for the Vehicle Registration Number Auction Management System.

3. The amount collected from vehicle registration number auctions, after deducting the expenses for auction activities (hereinafter referred to as auction sale proceeds) and any accrued interest on the balance of the dedicated account of the Ministry of Public Security, shall be declared, submitted, and settled with the tax authority according to the laws governing tax administration.

a) By the latest day 20 of each month, the Ministry of Public Security (or the agency entrusted by the Ministry of Public Security to manage the collection and submission of auction sale proceeds) shall declare and submit the auction sale proceeds collected in the previous month to the tax authority (in accordance with Form No. 02 issued together with this Decree). The Ministry of Public Security (or the agency entrusted by the Ministry of Public Security to manage the collection and submission of auction sale proceeds) shall settle the auction sale proceeds annually (in accordance with Form No. 03 issued together with this Decree) in accordance with the laws governing tax administration;

b) All auction sale proceeds must be fully remitted to the central government budget;

c) Any accrued interest (if any) on the balance of the dedicated account of the Ministry of Public Security at the bank or foreign bank branch must be fully remitted to the central government budget, along with the auction sale proceeds collected in the month of accrual.

Article 25. Handling of Pre-Auction Deposits

1. In cases where participants in the auction fail to make payments in accordance with Clause 1, Article 14 of this Decree, leading to non-compliance with participation conditions, the auction practitioner shall refund this payment within three working days from the date of receiving all documents including the request for refund (original copy) and proof images of the transaction of that participant.

2. If the auction cannot be organized as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 15 of this Decree, the participant in the vehicle registration number auction shall be refunded the application fee and pre-auction deposit within three working days from the date the auction is halted.

3. If the participant in the auction does not win the auction or does not fall under the circumstances where the pre-auction deposit cannot be refunded, the pre-auction deposit shall be refunded within three working days from the end of the auction.

4. Circumstances where the pre-auction deposit cannot be refunded: Participants who meet the conditions for participating in the vehicle registration number auction but do not log into the assigned account and access the auction room to participate in the official auction period shall be considered as not participating in the auction, except in cases of force majeure as provided by law; those disqualified from participating in the auction due to actions specified in Clause 3, Article 15 of this Decree; and those who win the auction but fail to confirm the auction record within the time limit set out in the Auction Regulations.

Article 26. Refund of Successful Auction Amount

1. The full amount of the successful auction bid shall be refunded in cases where the auction result is annulled according to points a, b, c, d of Clause 1, Article 21 of this Decree.

2. The successful bidder, the estate manager, the testamentary heir, or the statutory heir of the successful bidder shall submit a request for refund of the successful auction bid in accordance with Appendix V issued together with this Decree.

3. After receiving the complete request for refund, the Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible for checking and verifying the documents and processing the refund as follows:

a) In the case of refund before the date of state budget submission: The refund shall be made from the dedicated collection account of the Ministry of Public Security opened at a bank or foreign bank branch;

b) In the case of refund after the date of state budget submission: The Ministry of Public Security shall check and verify the refund request documents against the payment vouchers submitted to the state budget previously, if they match, the Ministry of Public Security shall issue a refund decision sent to the Tax Authority to issue a refund order for the state budget revenue, transferred to the State Treasury that collected the state budget revenue to implement the refund to the state budget payer;

c) In the case of incomplete or non-compliant documents, the Ministry of Public Security shall notify the successful bidder, the estate manager, the testamentary heir, or the statutory heir of the successful bidder.

Chapter IV

EFFECTIVE DATE OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 27. Effective Date

1. This Decree takes effect from January 1, 2025.

2. Decree No. 39/2023/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2023 of the Government detailing certain provisions of Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 dated November 15, 2022 of the National Assembly on pilot car license plate auctions shall cease to be effective from the date this Decree takes effect, except for the provisions stipulated in Article 28 of this Decree.

Article 28. Transitional Provisions

Car license plate auctions conducted prior to the effective date of this Decree and already issued with a Decision confirming the successful auction of the car license plate shall continue to be implemented in accordance with Decree No. 39/2023/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2023 of the Government detailing certain provisions of Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 dated November 15, 2022 of the National Assembly on pilot car license plate auctions; in cases where the Decision confirming the successful auction of the car license plate has not yet been issued, it shall continue to be implemented in accordance with Decree No. 39/2023/NĐ-CP dated June 26, 2023 of the Government and point d of Clause 1, Article 38 of the Road Traffic Safety Law 2024.

Article 29. Implementation Organization

The Ministry of Public Security shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors to implement this Decree and assign functional units to supervise and ensure security and safety during the organization of car license plate auctions.