What Amount of Fine Warrants a Traffic Stop Report by the Police?

On November 15, 2024, the Minister of Public Security issued Circular No. 73/2024/TT-BCA, stipulating the duties of traffic police in patrolling, inspecting, and handling administrative violations related to road traffic order and safety.

According to Article 16 of the aforementioned Circular, when detecting administrative violations that fall under the category of non-recordable offenses, traffic police officers shall issue on-the-spot decisions regarding administrative sanctions within their jurisdiction.

In cases where individuals or organizations (hereinafter referred to as “violators”) do not immediately comply with the decision, the traffic police shall temporarily confiscate relevant documents as stipulated in points d and g, Clause 2, Article 17 of Circular No. 73/2024/TT-BCA, and in accordance with other relevant legal provisions on handling administrative violations, to ensure the enforcement of the sanction.

Upon detection of an administrative violation that warrants a recorded offense, traffic police officers shall proceed to draw up an administrative violation record as prescribed by law. The record may be handwritten on a pre-printed form or generated from a database of violation handling data.

Once the record is complete, the recording officer shall read it aloud for the individuals named in the report to hear. The officer will then explain the rights and deadlines for providing clarification regarding the administrative violation, as stipulated in Article 61 of the 2012 Law on Handling Administrative Violations (as amended and supplemented in 2020).

The violator will be requested to provide a contact phone number (if available) to receive information about the sanction through the National Public Service Portal and the Ministry of Public Security’s Public Service Portal (hereinafter referred to as the “Public Service Portal”). The violator will then be asked to sign the record (or provide a thumbprint if unable to sign), unless the record is established according to Clause 7, Article 58 of the 2012 Law on Handling Administrative Violations (as amended and supplemented in 2020).

If there are any witnesses, interpreters, or victims or their representatives present, they must also sign the record. For records consisting of multiple pages, each page must be initialed.

In cases where the violator is not present at the scene, deliberately evades signing or thumb-printing, or is present but refuses to do so, or if the violator cannot be identified, the Traffic Police Team Leader shall invite a representative of the commune-level People’s Committee where the violation occurred, or at least one witness, to sign the record, confirming the violator’s refusal to sign or thumb-print.

If the record lacks the signature of the commune-level People’s Committee representative or witness, the traffic police officer must clearly state the reason in the record. The use of technical equipment to record the incident is mandatory, and a written report must be submitted to the unit leader to serve as a basis for the authorized person to consider and decide on the sanction.

The procedure for providing the administrative violation record to the violator shall comply with the provisions of Article 58 of the 2012 Law on Handling Administrative Violations (as amended and supplemented in 2020) and Article 12 of Decree No. 118/2021/ND-CP.

According to current regulations, if the on-the-spot sanction involves a warning or a fine of up to VND 250,000 for individuals or VND 500,000 for organizations, a traffic violation record is not required. However, if the fine exceeds these amounts, a record must be established by the traffic police.