HCMC – Vehicle registration and testing certificates should be extended by 15 days to give auto owners more time due to huge backlogs at auto testing centers, the Ministry of Transport proposed in a letter sent to the Government on March 10.

During this 15-day period, vehicles should be banned from transporting passengers or goods.

The ministry also suggested allowing capable maintenance facilities of car importers and manufacturers to carry out auto inspections.

It proposed removing the limits for auto testing lines and allowing auto inspection centers that have been suspended from operation for three months to resume their services if they are qualified in terms of facilities and human resources.

The proposals came amid a lack of auto inspectors, leading to traffic bottlenecks around auto inspection centers and car owners waiting days to have their automobiles tested.

On March 9, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha requested the ministry to work out policies that exempt brand-new cars from the first technical checks and guide eligible maintenance service centers of automakers to participate in providing inspection services.

This month, 44,350 cars will be due for inspection in HCMC and 68,690 in Hanoi. The southern city is expected to inspect nearly half of the amount, while the nation’s capital city may meet around 15% of the demand.