Circular No. 60/2015/TT-BGTVT amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 7, 2014, issued by the Minister of Transport on organizing and managing road passenger transport operations and related support services using motor vehicles.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 7, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on the organization and management of road passenger transport activities by motor vehicles and supporting road transport services

The Minister of Transport promulgates this Circular to amend and supplement certain articles of Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 7, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on the organization and management of road passenger transport activities by motor vehicles and supporting road transport services.

by motor vehicles and road transport support services

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On the basis of Decree No. 86/2012/NĐ-CP dated October 19, 2012, issued by the Government detailing and guiding implementation of certain provisions of the Metrology Law;

Based on Decree No. 86/2014/ND-CP dated September 10, 2014 of the Government on business operations and conditions for road passenger transport by road vehicles;

Pursuant to Decree No. 107/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

At the request of the Director of the Transport Department and the Director General of the Vietnam Highway Administration,

The Minister of Transport issues the Circular amending and supplementing certain Articles of Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 7, 2014, of the Minister of Transport, concerning the organization and management of road passenger and cargo transport activities by motor vehicles and road transport support services.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT dated November 7, 2014 of the Minister of Transport on the organization and management of road passenger transport activities by motor vehicles and supporting road transport services

1. Supplement Clause 12 of Article 3 as follows:

"12. Road transport rescue service is the activity of supporting means of transport and assets on means of road transport when accidents or incidents occur."

2. Amend Point c Clause 4 of Article 4 as follows:

"c) Enterprises and cooperatives engaged in road passenger transport must use drivers who have at least two years of experience operating passenger buses with a capacity of 30 seats to operate two-tier sleeper buses."

3. Amend Clause 5 of Article 7 as follows:

5. Training units:

a) Enterprises engaged in road passenger transport or the Vietnam Road Transport Association or local road transport associations organize training for drivers engaged in road passenger transport and staff serving on the vehicle;

b) The Vietnam Road Transport Association or local road transport associations organize training for transport managers."

4. Amend Article 14 as follows:

"Article 14. Registration of route exploitation

1. Enterprises and cooperatives holding a business license for road passenger transport by motor vehicles on fixed routes may register to exploit routes.

2. Based on the detailed planning of fixed passenger transport routes approved by competent authorities, the provincial Department of Transport (for intra-provincial routes) and the Departments of Transport at both ends of the route (for inter-provincial routes) shall coordinate and publicly announce on their websites the timetable of each route managed by the Department according to the model prescribed in Appendix 1a and Appendix 1b issued together with this Circular.

3. Time limit for public announcement of the timetable on the Department's website

a) First announcement: before January 1, 2016;

b) Periodic announcement: on the first day of the first month of each quarter;

c) Special announcement in case of adjustment of the detailed network planning of fixed passenger transport routes: within thirty days from the date of the Decision on adjustment.

4. Route registration process

a) Based on the timetable with unoccupied running hours already announced, enterprises and cooperatives proactively select and submit the application for route exploitation registration in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular to the Department of Transport where the enterprise or cooperative's headquarters or branch is located;

b) The Department of Transport receives the application for route exploitation registration and publicly announces on its website information about: name of the enterprise or cooperative, route, running hours, and the time of registration by the enterprise or cooperative. Within five working days, the Department of Transport must check the application and within the following two working days must publicly announce on its website whether the enterprise or cooperative has successfully registered for route exploitation or not. In case of unsuccessful registration for route exploitation, the Department of Transport must notify the enterprise or cooperative in writing and specify the reasons. Information related to route exploitation registration must be sent by the Department of Transport receiving the application to the Department of Transport at the other end of the route for simultaneous public announcement on their website.

Within five working days from the date of receipt of the first application from an enterprise or cooperative, if there are two or more enterprises or cooperatives (including both ends of the route) registering for the same route and running hours, then within the following two working days, the Departments of Transport at both ends of the route must publicly announce on their websites and notify in writing to the enterprises or cooperatives about organizing the selection of enterprises or cooperatives to exploit the route in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Transport;

c) If only one enterprise or cooperative successfully registers for the route, within sixty days from the date of successful registration being publicly announced on the Department's website, the enterprise or cooperative that successfully registered must submit an application for issuance of route operation identification to the Department of Transport for issuance of the identification for fixed route operation. After this period, if the enterprise or cooperative does not submit the application, it will be considered as the enterprise or cooperative voluntarily withdrawing the registration. The Department of Transport is responsible for updating and publicly announcing the vacant running hours on the timetable on its website.

5. Enterprises and cooperatives currently operating on routes not included in the network planning announced by competent authorities may continue to operate according to the registered plan for a maximum of twenty-four months from the date of announcement of the planning.

Two months prior to the above deadline, the Department of Transport shall notify the cessation of route operation to the enterprises and cooperatives and send the notification to the bus stations at both ends of the route so that the enterprises and cooperatives can cease operations in accordance with regulations."

5. Amend Article 15 as follows:

"Article 15. Management agencies of routes, organizations selecting enterprises and cooperatives to exploit routes

1. The provincial Department of Transport manages fixed passenger transport routes within the province; the Department of Transport issuing the identification takes the lead and coordinates with relevant Departments of Transport to manage inter-provincial fixed passenger transport routes, handling issues arising on the route related to vehicles issued by itself.

2. The Department of Transport implements the selection of enterprises and cooperatives to exploit fixed passenger transport routes by motor vehicles in accordance with the regulations of the Minister of Transport."

6. Amending Article 16 as follows:

"Article 16. Documents for route exploitation registration

1. Enterprises and cooperatives shall submit one set of application documents to the Department of Transport at the location where the enterprise or cooperative has its main office or branch office via fax, email, in person, or through other appropriate means.

2. The application for operating a route includes:

a) A route operation registration form as prescribed in Appendix 2a issued together with this Circular;

b) An operational plan for passenger transport on the route using motor vehicles as prescribed in Appendix 15 issued together with this Circular;

c) A quality service registration form for fixed-route transportation services as prescribed in Appendix 7 issued together with this Circular.”

7. Amend Clause 2 of Article 18 as follows:

a) Amend Point a of Clause 2 of Article 18 as follows:

“a) At least 10 days before reducing the number of trips on the route, enterprises and cooperatives must notify the Department of Transport issuing the route identification plates according to the model prescribed in Appendix 3a issued together with this Circular. The Department of Transport is responsible for updating information about the reduction of trips on the route on the schedule chart and publishing it on the Department's Electronic Information Website.”

b) Repeal Point b of Clause 2 of Article 18.

8. Amend Point b of Clause 3 of Article 37 as follows:

“b) A light box with the word "TAXI" mounted on top of the vehicle, from 18:00 to 06:00, the light box must be turned on when there are no passengers in the vehicle and turned off when there are passengers in the vehicle.”

9. Amend Clause 6 and Clause 7 of Article 51 as follows:

a) Amend Clause 6 of Article 51 as follows:

“6. Motor trucks engaged in cargo transportation must have the "TRUCK" identification plate according to the model prescribed in Appendix 27b of this Circular; tractor-trailers and semi-trailers engaged in cargo transportation must have the "TRACTOR" identification plate according to the model prescribed in Appendix 4a of this Circular.”

b) Amend Clause 7 of Article 51 as follows:

“7. Vehicles with the "CONTAINER" identification plate may transport containers and other goods. Vehicles with the "TRUCK" or "TRACTOR" identification plates may not transport containers.”

10. Amend Point a of Clause 2 of Article 54 as follows:

“a) Identification plates such as "FIXED ROUTE", "BUS", "TAXI", "CONTRACT", "CONTAINER", "TRUCK", "TRACTOR", and "TRANSFER" are valid for the duration of the business license for transportation operations and not longer than the useful life of the vehicle.”

11. Amend Clause 3, Point b of Clause 5, and Clause 7 of Article 55 as follows:

a) Amend Clause 3 of Article 55 as follows:

“3. Enterprises and cooperatives engaged in fixed-route passenger transportation shall be issued identification plates for motor vehicles by the Department of Transport after successfully registering to operate the route; they may also report changes or additions to vehicles without increasing the number of trips on their routes, and when the identification plates expire, are lost, or are damaged according to the provisions of Clause 5 of this Article.

Vehicles currently operating fixed-route passenger transportation, if they need to transport passengers under contracts, enterprises and cooperatives must submit a written request to the Department of Transport for issuance of contract vehicle identification plates and provide a written commitment to operate according to the fixed-route operational plan.”

b) Amend Point b of Clause 5 of Article 55 as follows:

“b) A copy accompanied by the original for comparison or a certified copy of the technical safety inspection certificate, vehicle registration certificate, and lease agreement with organizations or individuals providing financial leasing or asset leasing, or service agreements between members and cooperatives if the vehicle does not belong to the enterprise or cooperative engaged in transportation. For vehicles registered under a different local authority, the Department of Transport receiving the application must seek confirmation regarding the condition of the vehicle participating in transportation operations from the Department of Transport of the local authority where the vehicle is registered according to the provisions of Clause 12 of this Article.”

c) Repeal Point c of Clause 7 of Article 55.

12. Amend Clause 5 of Article 62 as follows:

“5. Establish a database and an electronic information website for automobile transportation activities. Define codes for fixed-route inter-provincial and intra-provincial passenger transportation routes. Develop software to manage automobile transportation operations and implement applications before January 1, 2016.”

13. Amend Clause 2 and Clause 10 of Article 63 as follows:

a) Amend Clause 2 of Article 63 as follows:

“2. Report to the General Department of Roads and Waterways on the situation of operating fixed-route inter-provincial and intra-provincial passenger transportation.”

b) Amend Clause 10 of Article 63 as follows:

“10. Direct, supervise, inspect, and monitor training programs and legal regulations for transportation operators, commercial drivers, and onboard staff involved in transportation activities organized by transportation enterprises, cooperatives within the locality, or the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association or local automobile transport associations according to the prescribed regulations.”

14. Replace the term "frequency" in Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT with the term "number of trips".

15. Supplement Appendices 1a, 1b, and 4a issued together with this Circular to Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT; supplement Appendix 2a issued together with this Circular to replace Appendix 14 issued together with Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT; supplement Appendix 3a issued together with this Circular to replace Appendix 16 issued together with Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT.

16. Repeal Appendix 13 issued together with Circular No. 63/2014/TT-BGTVT.

Article 2. Effectiveness and Implementation

1. This Circular takes effect from January 1, 2016.

2. The Director of the Ministry’s Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of Departments, the Director of the General Department of Roads, the Directors of Provincial Departments of Transport, the Heads of relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals are responsible for implementing this Circular./.