Traffic in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Pham Chieu
I thought paying traffic fines was as simple as going to the police station and handing them the money, but the procedure was unexpectedly complicated and time-consuming.
I currently live in a suburban district of Hanoi. Earlier this month, I checked online for any outstanding traffic violations and discovered that I received one last September in Nghe An province. Hence, my wife and I prepare the money and went to the police station to pay the fine.
However, what I did not expect was that paying the fine would not be as simple as I had thought. We went there on a Saturday afternoon, but the officer on duty said it was outside of working hours.
We returned during working hours on another day and were told that because the violation occurred in Nghe An, we needed a hard copy of the incident report from that province’s police. I later called the police in Nghe An, who informed us that we only needed a soft copy of the report.
I went back to the police at 4 p.m. on the third day, but they insisted that we needed a hard copy of the report to proceed. After a long back-and-forth argument, I was finally told that a hard copy was not necessary. I was then instructed to make copies of my vehicle registration and other documents and return the next day, as working hours had ended.
On the fourth day, I returned and had to wait quite a while. Finally, I received the good news that I can come back in three days to receive a document and pay the fine, and I will get a confirmation report seven days after that. I later went to collect the document and paid the fine as scheduled. Overall, it took at least 10 days to settle a traffic fine.
What caused me the most frustration during my whole ordeal was the lack of proper guidance, which turned what could have been one trip into multiple. Each time, I had to travel 10 kilometers through dusty, crowded streets, which was exhausting.
I wonder if it is just my locality that is lagging behind the trend of digitalization, but it seems that almost everyone who goes to pay fines feels frustrated and finds it difficult to pay quickly. I hope that administrative procedures will be improved and digitalized soon, so that paying traffic fines becomes a less strenuous process.
*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.
