Circular No. 81/2017/TT-BTC on the remuneration system for reading, listening, and viewing to check pre-circulation press materials

CIRCULAR

Regulations on remuneration for persons reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials

for press censorship review 

Pursuant to the State Budget Law dated June 25, 2015;

Pursuant to the Press Law dated April 5, 2016;

Based on Decree No. 71/2007/NĐ-CP dated May 3, 2007 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Law on Information Technology concerning the information technology industry;

Pursuant to Decree No. 87/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 26, 2017 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Administrative and Public Service Financial Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular regulating remuneration for persons reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials.

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

This Circular regulates the remuneration system; budget preparation, management, and settlement of funds for paying remuneration to persons reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials according to Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 52 of the Press Law and press materials that have been inspected and must be reviewed for content in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Article 2. Applicability

1. The Press Department, the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications; Provincial Departments of Information and Communications under centrally governed cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as Provincial Departments of Information and Communications).

2. Persons reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials, reviewing the content of pre-publication press materials, including:

a) Civil servants assigned the task of regularly reading, listening to, and viewing pre-publication press materials of the Press Department, the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications;

b) Civil servants assigned the task of regularly reading, listening to, and viewing pre-publication press materials at Provincial Departments of Information and Communications;

c) Collaborators: Persons signed a collaboration agreement by the Press Department, the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department, and Provincial Departments of Information and Communications to read, listen to, and view to inspect pre-publication press materials;

d) Members of the Content Review Council for pre-publication press materials established by the competent authority.

Article 3. Reading, listening to, and viewing standards for inspecting pre-publication press materials

1. The basis for determining the reading, listening to, and viewing standards for inspecting pre-publication press materials is news items and articles published or broadcasted in the press.

2. The reading, listening to, and viewing standards for inspecting pre-publication press materials for each type of press material are the standards applied to one working day of civil servants as prescribed by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

Article 4. Calculation of remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials

1. For civil servants specified in point a and point b Clause 2 Article 2 of this Circular:

a) The basis for calculating remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials is the number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed exceeding the standard set in a month, determined by the following formula:

A = B - (C x D)

Where:

A: Is the number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed to inspect pre-publication press materials exceeding the standard set in a month.

B: The actual number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed to inspect pre-publication press materials carried out by the civil servant in a month.

C: The actual number of days in a month during which the civil servant performs the task of reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials.

D: The reading, listening to, and viewing standards for inspecting pre-publication press materials for each type of press material applied to one working day of civil servants as prescribed by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

b) Remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials exceeding the standard is paid according to the following formula:

E = A x G

Where:

E: Is the remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials exceeding the standard.

A: Is the number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed to inspect pre-publication press materials exceeding the standard set in a month.

G: The rate of remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials, determined by the following formula: 165,000 VND (per day)/standard number of news items and articles per day.

c) The number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed to inspect pre-publication press materials exceeding the standard to serve as the basis for calculating the remuneration payable to one civil servant specified in point a and point b Clause 2 Article 2 of this Circular shall not exceed 0.5 times the reading, listening to, and viewing standards prescribed in Clause 2 Article 3 of this Circular.

d) Civil servants who have received remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials shall not be paid overtime pay for nighttime work or additional hours spent reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials.

2. For collaborators specified in point c Clause 2 Article 2 of this Circular, remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials is paid according to the following formula:

H = B x G

Where:

H: Remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials paid;

B: The actual number of news items and articles read, listened to, and viewed to inspect pre-publication press materials carried out by the collaborator in a month;

G: The rate of remuneration for reading, listening to, and viewing to inspect pre-publication press materials prescribed in point b Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 5. Payment for reviewing the content of circulating press materials

The payment for reviewing the content of circulating press materials shall be paid at a maximum rate not exceeding VND 500,000 per issue/document for participating in opinions (maximum three opinions per issue).

Article 6. Expenses for organizing meetings of the review board on issues related to circulating press materials

Chairperson: the expense level is VND 150,000 per person per meeting;

Participants: the expense level is VND 100,000 per person per meeting.

Article 7. Sources of funds and application of payment levels for reading, listening, viewing, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials

1. The sources of funds for paying for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials include:

a) Central budget ensuring the funding for paying for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials at the central level;

b) Local budget ensuring the funding for paying for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials at the local level;

c) Other lawful sources of funding as prescribed by law (if any).

2. The application of payment levels for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials is stipulated as follows:

a) The payment levels for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials prescribed in this Circular are the maximum payment levels;

b) The Minister of Information and Communications shall specify the specific payment levels for the Press Department, the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department to implement expenditures appropriately but not exceeding the maximum payment levels prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular;

c) Based on the actual situation in the locality and the ability to balance the local budget, the People's Committee of the province or centrally-administered city shall submit to the People's Council at the same level to decide the specific payment levels in the locality appropriately but not exceeding the maximum levels prescribed in Articles 4 and 5 of this Circular.

Article 8. Budget preparation, management, and settlement

The preparation of budgets, allocation, assignment of budgets, payment, and settlement of expenses shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations. This Circular provides additional guidance on the following specific contents:

1. Budget preparation: Annually, during the time of preparing the state budget according to the State Budget Law; based on the implementation of the previous year's budget for the remuneration system for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials; based on the plan for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials for the planned year, the Press Department, the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department, and the Departments of Information and Communications shall be responsible for building the necessary budget for implementing this task in the planned year.

The consolidation into the annual state budget for submission to the competent authority for approval shall be carried out in accordance with current regulations, specifically as follows:

a) For the Press Department and the Radio, Television and Electronic Information Department:

The necessary budget for implementing the task of reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials for the planned year (with detailed calculation basis attached) shall be consolidated into the regular expenditure budget of the agency, submitted to the Ministry of Information and Communications for consideration to consolidate into the Ministry's budget, submitted to the Ministry of Finance for consideration and consolidation into the state budget for submission to the competent authority for decision in accordance with the State Budget Law.

b) For the Departments of Information and Communications:

The necessary budget for implementing the task of reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials for the planned year (with detailed calculation basis attached) shall be consolidated into the regular expenditure budget of the agency, submitted to the Department of Finance for consideration and consolidation for submission to the competent authority for decision in accordance with the State Budget Law.

2. Allocation and assignment of budgets: Based on the budget assigned by the competent authority, the heads of agencies and units shall be responsible for allocating and assigning budgets to subordinate units (including the budget for implementing the remuneration system for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials), sent to the financial authorities at the same level for inspection and allocation in accordance with the State Budget Law.

3. Payment:

a) Remuneration for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials for civil servants as stipulated in points a and b, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular is specified as follows:

- Over-quota remuneration for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials is settled monthly. In cases where civil servants do not meet the quota in a month, the shortfall compared to the quota in that month will be added to the quota to calculate the remuneration for the next month.

- Settlement documents include: Monthly statement of payment for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials (according to Model Appendix No. 01 issued together with this Circular);

b) Remuneration for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials for cooperating members as stipulated in point c, Clause 2, Article 2 of this Circular is specified as follows:

- Remuneration for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials for cooperating members is settled monthly.

- Settlement documents include: Monthly statement of payment for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials (according to Model Appendix No. 02 issued together with this Circular);

c) Remuneration for reviewing the content of circulating press materials for members of the review board is settled based on the number of issues and documents participated in the review process.

4. Settlement:

a) The use and settlement of funds to ensure the implementation of the remuneration system for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials shall comply with the State Budget Law, Accounting Law, and guiding documents;

b) At the end of each year, agencies and units shall aggregate the settlement of funds for the remuneration system for reading, listening, viewing to check circulating press materials, and reviewing the content of circulating press materials into the annual budget settlement of the agency or unit in accordance with regulations.

Article 9. Implementation Organization

1. This Circular takes effect from October 1, 2017.

2. During the implementation of this Circular, if there are difficulties or obstacles, it is recommended that relevant agencies and units promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Finance for study and amendment to be appropriate.