Decree 156/2024/ND-CP prescribing the auction of vehicle number plates

DECREE

Prescribing the auction of vehicle number plates

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Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government dated June 19, 2015; the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles 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 dated November 24, 2015;

Pursuant to the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety dated June 27, 2024;

Pursuant to the Law on Property Auction dated November 17, 2016; Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Property Auction dated June 27, 2024;

Pursuant to the Law on Management and Use of Public Property dated June 21, 2017;

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

Pursuant to the Law on Cyberinformation Security dated November 19, 2015;

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

The Government promulgates the Decree regulating the auction of vehicle number plates.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Decree details Articles 37 and 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024 on the auction of vehicle number plates, including number plates put up for auction, reserve price, deposit, bid increment, sale price of dossiers, form, method, order, procedures for auction of number plates, rights and obligations of winning bidders of number plates, collection, remittance, handling of deposits, refunds of winning bids.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. Ministry of Public Security.

2. Property auction practice organizations and auctioneers selected for auction of vehicle number plates.

3. Organizations and individuals participating in the auction.

4. Other relevant agencies, organizations and individuals.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Bidder is a Vietnamese organization or individual registering for auction participation by submitting valid auction participation dossiers and deposits to property auction practicing organizations in accordance with this Decree and other relevant laws.

2. Winning bidder is a bidder participating in the online auction of vehicle number plates and making the highest bid compared to the reserve price or equal to the reserve price as prescribed in this Decree.

3. An auction of vehicle number plate means the whole process of auctioning for a vehicle number plate.

4. An auction session of vehicle number plate includes different auctions of vehicle number plate organized in the approved auction organization plan.

5. Winning bid means the amount of money that a winning bidder has to pay to be granted the right to use the number plate of the vehicle upon being granted a Decision on confirmation of vehicles’ number plate bought through auction.

6. The management system for auction of vehicle number plate of the Ministry of Public Security means a collection of hardware, software, infrastructure and transmission lines specially designed to serve the management of the auction of vehicle number plates.

7. Vehicle registration and management system means a collection of hardware and equipment, software, databases, network equipment, security equipment and other equipment connected from the Ministry of Public Security to the Police of units and localities for production, transmission, collection, processing, storing and exchanging of digital information, serving one or more than one professional vehicle registration activities.

Article 4. Forms and methods of auction

1. The form of auction is an online auction.

2. The method being used is the ascending-price auction.

Article 5. Vehicle number plates put up for auction

1. Vehicle number plates put up for auction are number plates of automobiles, motorcycles and mopeds specified at Point c and Point d, Clause 2, Article 36 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024.

2. The Minister of Public Security shall decide on the quantity of vehicle number plates put up for auction at each auction session, including the vehicle number plates of provinces and centrally-run cities, which are stored in the vehicle registration and management system of the Ministry of Public Security, and shall supplement the quantity of vehicle number plates for the police of the provinces and  centrally-run cities in case of running out of vehicle number plates available for registration before the next auction session.

Article 6. The reserve price of a vehicle number plate put up for auction

1. The reserve price of an automobile number plate put up for auction is VND 40 (forty) million and will be increased once every three years from January 1, 2025, each time increased by VND 5 (five) million.

2. The reserve price of a motorcycle or moped number plate put up for auction is VND 5 (five) million, and will be increased once every three years from January 1, 2025, each time increased by VND 1 (one) million.

3. The reserve price of vehicle number plates in the formats of AAAAA (A>4), ABCDE (A<B<C<D<E, A>4) to be re-auctioned after the second time is VND 500 (five hundred) million for automobile number plates and VND 50 (fifty) million for motorcycle or moped number plates.

Article 7. Deposit, bid increment

1. The deposit is equal to the reserve price of a vehicle number plate put up for auction. The deposit shall be remitted into a separate payment account of the property auction practice organization opened at the bank from the date of listing the property auction until 02 days before the opening date of the auction. In case of winning bids, the deposit shall be transferred to the special collection account of the Ministry of Public Security to be remitted into the state budget in accordance with regulations.

2. The bid increment for the auction of automobile number plates is 5 (five) million VND; 500 (five hundred) thousand VND for auction of number plates of motorcycles and mopeds.

Article 8. The sale price of participation dossiers, handling of proceeds from the sale of participation dossiers in the auction

1. The sale price of auction participation dossiers is VND 100 (one hundred) thousand per an automobile number plate and VND 50 (fifty) thousand per a motorcycle or moped number plate.

2. Property auction practice organizations shall collect, manage and use proceeds earned from the sale of dossiers as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 66 and Point d, Clause 2, Article 78 of the Law on Property Auction 2016 (amended and supplemented in 2024).

Chapter II

ORDER AND PROCEDURES FOR AUCTION OF VEHICLE NUMBER PLATES

Article 9. Selection of property auction practice organizations

1. The Ministry of Public Security shall select a property auction practice organization having an Online auction website, ensuring safety and cyber security conditions when connecting to the Management system for auction of vehicle number plate to conduct the auction of vehicle number plates.

2. Conditions for selection of property auction practice organizations to conduct the auction of vehicle number plates shall be carried out on the basis of criteria, evaluation and scoring of property auction practice organizations and on the basis of requirements for technical features of the online auction website specified in Appendices I and II promulgated together with this Decree.

3. Notices of selection and results of selection of property auction practice organizations are specified in Appendices III and IV promulgated together with this Decree.

4. The order of selection of property auction practice organizations is as follows:

a) Notifying the selection of property auction practice organizations on the National Property Auction Portal and the Website portal of the Ministry of Public Security;

b) Establishing the Consultancy group for consideration and approval of dossiers of selection of property auction practice organizations, including relevant professional units affiliated to the Ministry of Public Security;

c) Selecting and announcing the results of selection of property auction practice organizations on the National Property Auction Portal and the website portal of the Ministry of Public Security.

5. The Ministry of Public Security shall re-select the property auction practice organization in case the property auction practice organization, which has been selected, ceases its operation and fails to meet the criteria and conditions for conducting the auction of vehicle number plates or the contract is terminated its effectiveness in accordance with law.

Article 10. Auction service contracts, auction service prices, auction expenses paid to property auction practice organizations

1. Service contracts for auction of vehicle number plates

The Ministry of Public Security shall sign the service contract for auction of vehicle number plates with a property auction practice organization to hold the auction of vehicle number plates.  The service contract for auction of vehicle number plates must be made in written form and comply with the civil law and the laws on property auction.

2. Auction service prices and auction expenses paid to property auction practice organizations:

a) For each vehicle number plate successfully auctioned, the auction service price paid to the property auction practice organization shall be equal to 8% of the reserve price specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 6 of this Decree, exclusive of value-added tax and auction expenses;

b) Auction expenses paid to property auction practice organizations are VND 10 (ten) thousand for each automobile number plate put up for auction and VND 2 (two) thousand for each number plate of a motorcycle or moped put up for auction.

Article 11. Auction organization plan

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

2. An auction organization plan shall include the following contents:

a) List of number plates of vehicles put up for auction;

b) Reserve price, bid increment and deposit;

c) Forms and methods of organizing the auction;

d) The time of organizing the auction;

dd) Other relevant contents.

3. The auction organization plan must be publicized on the website portal of the Ministry of Public Security and the website of the Traffic Police Department with a link to the online auction website of the property auction practice organization within 05 working days from the date of approval.

Article 12. Auction Regulations

Based on the auction organization plan, the property auction practice organization shall promulgate the Auction Regulation, including the following contents: List of vehicle number plates put up for auction; auction time; reserve price, bid increment; accounts for payment of deposits to participate in auctions; method to participate in the auction.

Article 13. Public display and announcement of the property auction

1. The Ministry of Public Security shall transfer the list of vehicle number plates to be put for auction to the property auction practice organization, and at the same time publicize the auction organization plan of number plates on the website portal of the Ministry of Public Security, the website of the Traffic Police Department, with a link to the online auction website of the property auction practice organization.

2. The property auction practice organization shall publicize information on property auction organization plans, list of vehicle number plates put up for auction on the National Property Auction Portal or on the online auction website of property auction practice organization and display publicly at its head office. The auction regulations shall be displayed and announced publicly on the online auction website and at the head office of the property auction practice organization.

3. The deadline for publicly announcing and displaying the Auction Regulations and the list of vehicle number plates put up for auction shall be at least 30 days before the date on which the auction session takes place.

4. Property auction practice organizations shall public announce the number of persons registering to participate in the auction of each vehicle number plate being posted.

Article 14. Steps to conduct an auction of vehicle number plates

1. Registration for participating in the auction

a) The registration for participating in the auction shall be carried out entirely online on the Online auction website of the property auction practice organization; bidders shall register to participate in the auction and submit dossiers of registration for participating in the auction on the Online auction website; The bidders are responsible for the accuracy and truthfulness of the information declaration to register for participating in the auction.

b) The bidders shall be provided with an account to get access to, instructed on how to use the account, how to offer bids and other contents on the online auction website to conduct the auction;

c) The bidders are allowed to select vehicle number plates according to their needs in the list of vehicle number plates put up for auction of all provinces and centrally-run cities nationwide to participate in the auction;

d) The bidder shall pay the dossier expenses and deposit of the number plate of the vehicle selected for auction to the account of the property auction practice organization as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 7 and Clause 1, Article 8 of this Decree and shall be granted with the auction code of such auction of vehicle number plate;

dd) The property auction practice organization shall sell the auction participation dossier and receive the auction participation dossier from the date on which the property auction is publicly announced until 02 days before the auction opening date.

2. The bidders shall access to the online auction website using their own access accounts and carry out auction procedures according to the Auction Regulation

3. At the end of the online auction, the online auction website shall identify the winning bidder, announce the auction result, display the auction minutes for the winning bidder to confirm, and send the notice to the email address of the bidders who have registered with the property auction practice organization.

4. Upon the expiration of the deadline for registration for participating in the auction, if only one person registers to participate in the auction, such person shall be identified as the winning bidder of the vehicle number plate, and the winning bidder shall receive the notice and record of the auction winning of such vehicle number plate before the time of conducting the auction.

5. Property auction practice organizations shall be responsible for examining and approving dossiers, comparing information of bidders, assigning auctioneers in charge of conducting the online auction on the online auction website, authenticating the auction minutes with digital signatures to be sent to the winning bidders.

6. The Ministry of Public Security shall supervise the process of organizing the auction, auction results, and authenticate the auction minutes with digital signatures and other relevant contents.

Article 15. Cases of suspending the auction, disqualification from participating in the auction and handling of arising situations

1. Property auction practice organizations and auctioneers are forced to suspend the auction in one of the following cases:

a) The Ministry of Public Security shall request the property auction practice organization to suspend the auction when there are grounds to believe that the property auction practice organization or the auctioneer has violated the professional ethics standards of the auctioneer and other provisions in the Auction Regulation;

b) Force majeure events.

2. The Ministry of Public Security shall decide on the resumption of the auction after the conditions for organizing the auction are fully satisfied as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 9 of this Decree and other relevant laws.

3. Cases of disqualification from participating in the auction:

a) Providing incorrect documents and information; using fraudulent papers to register to participate in the auction or participate in the auction;

b) Colluding or being in cahoots with auctioneers, property auction practice organizations, property sellers, other bidders, other individuals and organizations to lower prices or falsify property auction results;

c) Obstructing property auction activities, having act of using software to affect the auction process or auction results; interfering the auction;

d) Threatening or coercing auctioneers and other bidders in order to falsify property auction results;

dd) Other prohibited acts as prescribed by laws.

4. In case of violation specified in Clause 3 of this Article, the property auction practice organization shall report to the Ministry of Public Security to cease recognition or cancel the auction result and refer it to a competent agency for handling as prescribed by regulations.

Article 16. Public display and transferring auction results

1. Within 01 working day from the ending of the auction, the property auction practice organization must publicly display the auction results of the vehicle number plate auction on the online auction website.

2. Within 03 working days from the ending of the auction, the property auction practice organization must send the auction results, auction minutes and list of winning bidders in electronic documents and at the same time transfer the deposit to the Ministry of Public Security for approval of the auction winning results and completion of relevant procedures.

Article 17. Approval of auction winning results

Within 07 working days from the date of receipt of auction results, auction minutes, list of winning bidders in electronic documents from property auction practice organizations, the Ministry of Public Security shall issue a Decision approving the auction winning results.

Article 18. Notification of auction winning results

1. The Ministry of Public Security shall send an electronic document of Notification on the auction winning result of vehicle number plates to the email address and send a notification message to the telephone number registered at the access account to the winning bidder within 07 working days following the approval of the auction winning result; the electronic document of Notification of the auction winning result of vehicle number plates shall be in lieu of the contract for purchase and sale of auctioned property or the contract for sale of state property.

2. The contents of the Notification of the auction winning result shall include: the vehicle number plate bought at auction, the name and identification code of the individual or organization (in case the organization has not yet been issued an identification code, the tax identification number or serial number of the decision on establishment of the organization shall be written instead), the address of the winning bidder, the auction winning price,  the payable amount, the number of special collection accounts opened by the Ministry of Public Security at banks and foreign bank’s branch to pay the winning bids, the deadline for paying the winning bids, the cancellation of auction results if the amount of winning bid is not fully paid as prescribed by regulations.

Article 19. Payment of winning bids

Within 30 days from the date of issuance of the electronic document Notification on the auction winning result, the winning bidders must pay the entire amount of winning bids after deducting the deposit into the special collection account of the Ministry of Public Security opened at the bank or foreign bank's branch. The winning bid shall not include the vehicle registration fees.

Article 20. Issuance of Decision on confirmation of vehicle number plates bought through auction

Immediately after receiving the full winning bid, the Ministry of Public Security shall issue an electronic invoice for the sale of public property and an electronic document of the Decision on confirmation of vehicle number plates bought through auction and send to the e-mail address of the winning bidder in order to conduct the vehicle registration procedures.

Article 21. Cancellation of auction winning results

1. Vehicle number plate auction results shall be canceled in one of the following cases:

a) The winning bidder or property auction practice organization has requested and obtained the written approval of the Ministry of Public Security.

b) The service contract for property auction, the Notification of the auction winning result, or the Decision on confirmation of the vehicle number plate bought through auction is declared invalid by the court but its invalidity is not caused to any violation of the winning bidder in accordance with the civil law.

c) The winning bidder dies within 30 days from the date of issuance of the Notification of the auction winning result but has not yet been granted the Decision on confirmation of the vehicle number plate bought through auction;

d) The winning bidder dies within 12 months from the date of issuance of the Decison on confirmation of vehicle number plates bought through auction or during the period approved by the Ministry of Public Security to extend the deadline for registration of the vehicle number plates bought through auction but has not yet carried out the procedures for vehicle registration;

dd) The winning bidder fails to pay or fails to fully pay the winning bid within the time limit specified in Article 19 of this Decree. The Ministry of Public Security will send an electronic written notice of not being allowed to participate in the auction within 12 months from the date of Notification of the auction winning result as prescribed at Point a, Clause 2, Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024;

e) The winning bidder fails to carry out procedures for registration of the vehicle number plate bought through auction as prescribed at Point b, Clause 2, Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024;

g) Cases of disqualification from participating in the auction as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 15 of this Decree.

2. If the winning bidder fails to confirm the auction minutes, the Ministry of Public Security shall not issue the Notification of the auction winning result in this case.

3. The vehicle number plate already bought at auction shall be put up for re-auction or transferred to the vehicle registration and management system; the deposit and the winning bid paid by the winning bidder shall not be refunded and remitted into the state budget, except for the cases specified at Points a, b, c, d, Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 22. Management of vehicle number plates bought through auctions

1. Vehicle number plates bought through auctions shall only be issued to winning bidders, except for the cases specified at Point c, Clause 1, Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024.

2. Procedures for registration of vehicle number plates bought through auctions shall comply with the law on vehicle registration.

Article 23. Extension of vehicle registration deadline in case of force majeure events or objective obstacles

1. In case of force majeure events or objective obstacles, the winning bidder has not yet carried out the procedures for vehicle registration to attach the vehicle number plate, the winning bidder must send an Application for extension of the vehicle registration time limit (according to Form No. 01 promulgated together with this Decree) through the Management system for auction of vehicle number plate of the Ministry of Public Security and send supporting documents (originals) to the Ministry of Public Security through the Traffic Police Department for considering and processing.

2. The Ministry of Public Security shall consider, process and notify the result of extension to the winning bidder in electronic writing.

3. The extension period shall not exceed 06 months as prescribed at Point b, Clause 2, Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024.

Chapter III

COLLECTION, REMITTANCE, HANDLING OF DEPOSITS AND REFUNDS OF WINNING BIDS

Article 24. Collecting and remitting winning bids and expenditures in service of auction activities before remitting them into the state budget

1. The Ministry of Public Security is assigned to open a special collection account at a bank or foreign bank's branch to collect winning bids.

2. Expenditures in service of auction activities before remittance into the state budget shall include:

a) Expenses for organizing the auction (auction service prices, auction expenses paid to property auction practice organizations as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Decree, expenses for sending messages, invoices, expenses for responding the queries during the auction organization and other proper expenses);

b) Advertising expenses;

c) Expenses for administration of the management system for auction of vehicle number plate.

3. The proceeds from the auction of vehicle number plates after deducting expenses for auction activities (the auction proceeds for short) and interest accumulating (if any) on the balance of the special collection account of the Ministry of Public Security shall be declared, remitted and settled with the tax authority. The managing tax authority shall declare, remit and settle this revenue in accordance with the law on tax administration.

a) No later than the 20^th of every month, the Ministry of Public Security (or an agency assigned by the Ministry of Public Security to manage the collection and payment of auction proceeds) shall declare and remit the auction proceeds collected in the previous month to the tax authority (according to Form No. 02 promulgated together with this Decree). The Ministry of Public Security (or the agency assigned by the Ministry of Public Security to manage the collection and payment of auction proceeds) shall make the annual finalization of auction proceeds (according to Form No. 03 promulgated together with this Decree) in accordance with the law on tax administration;

b) The auction proceeds shall be remitted in full to the central budget;

c) The interest (if any) accumulating on the balance of the Ministry of Public Security's special collection account at the bank or foreign bank's branch must be remitted in full to the central budget, together with the auction proceeds in the month incurred.

Article 25. Handling of Deposit

1. For cases where the bidder makes payment in contravention of the provisions of Clause 1, Article 14 of this Decree, resulting in disqualification from participation in the auction, the property auction practice organization shall refund this payment within 03 working days from the date of receipt of a complete dossier including the application for refund (original) and images proving the transaction of that auction participant.

2. In case the auction cannot be held under Clause 1, Article 15 of this Decree, the bidders of the auction of vehicle number plates shall be refunded the paid dossier price and deposit within 03 working days from the date the auction is suspended.

3. In case the bidder does not win the auction or does not fall under the cases of not being eligible to receive the deposit back, the deposit shall be refunded within 03 working days from the ending of the auction.

4. Cases in which the deposit is not refunded: Persons who are eligible to participate in the vehicle number plate auction but not logging in to the granted account and accessing the auction room to participate in the auction during the official auction period shall be considered not participating in the auction,  except for force majeure cases as prescribed by laws; being disqualified from participating in the auction due to the acts specified in Clause 3, Article 15 of this Decree; the failure of winning bidder to certify the auction minutes within the time limit specified in the Auction Regulations.

Article 26. Refund of auction winning bids

1. The winning bids already paid shall be fully refunded in cases of cancellation of auction results as prescribed at Points a, b, c, d, Clause 1, Article 21 of this Decree.

2. The winning bidder, estate manager, testamentary heir or legal heir of the winning bidder shall submit a dossier of request for refund of the auction winning bid according to Appendix V promulgated together with this Decree.

3. After receiving a complete dossier of refund request, the Ministry of Public Security shall be responsible for checking and comparing the dossier and carrying out the procedures for refund as follows:

a) In case of refund before the time of remittance to the state budget: The refund shall be made from the collection account of the Ministry of Public Security opened at a bank or foreign bank's branch;

b) In case of refund after the time of remittance to the state budget: The Ministry of Public Security shall check and compare the dossier of request for refund with the vouchers for remittance to the state budget of the previously paid amount, if appropriate, the Ministry of Public Security shall issue a decision on refund and send it to the tax authority for making an order for refund from state budget revenues, transfer to the State Treasury where the state budget has been collected for refunding to the state budget payers;

c) In case of the improper dossier, the Ministry of Public Security shall send a notice to the winning bidder, the estate manager, testamentary heir or legal heir of the winning bidder.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 27. Implementation provision

1. This Decree takes effect from January 01, 2025.

2. The Government's Decree No. 39/2023/ND-CP dated June 26, 2023, detailing a number of articles of the National Assembly's Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 dated November 15, 2022, on the pilot auction of automobile number plates expires from the effective date of this Decree, except for the case specified in Article 28 of this Decree.

Article 28. Transitional Clauses

The auction of automobile number plates conducted before the effective date of this Decree and has been granted a Decision on confirmation of vehicle number plates bought through auction shall continue to comply with the Government's Decree No. 39/2023/ND-CP dated June 26, 2023, detailing a number of articles of Resolution No. 73/2022/QH15 dated November 15, 2022, of the National Assembly on piloting the auction of automobile number plates; in case of not being granted a Decision on confirmation of vehicle number plates bought through auction, shall continue to comply with the Government's Decree No. 39/2023/ND-CP dated June 26, 2023, and Point d, Clause 1, Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety 2024.

Article 29. Implementation organization

The Ministry of Public Security shall take the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with relevant ministries and sectors in, organizing the implementation of this Decree and assign functional units to supervise and ensure security and safety in the process of organizing the auction of vehicle number plates.