On July 14, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center announced information about verifying information for free bus passengers.
From July 1 to the end of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City will exempt tickets on 134 bus routes, including 109 subsidized routes and 25 non-subsidized routes.
According to the initial plan, from July 1 to the end of September 2026, all passengers traveling on 134 bus routes will be completely free, without needing authentication or identification.
From October 1st to the end of 2026, passengers will still be exempt from tickets but will be recorded, verified or identified through methods such as citizen identification card (CCCD), VNeID application, bank card, e-wallet or MultiGo application.
However, in the early stages of implementation, passengers are still required to present their CCCD, bank card or scan the QR code on the VNeID application when boarding the car.
Regarding this issue, the Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center said that scanning ID cards or QR codes on T10 readers is only to verify information to record passenger trips using buses, not to collect fees. Passengers will not be deducted any money when performing this operation.
The collected data will help management agencies assess the effectiveness of the toll exemption policy, statistically count the number of passengers per route, per time frame to adjust the bus schedule, operating frequency and allocate vehicles more appropriately, meeting the travel needs of people well.
The Ho Chi Minh City Public Transport Management Center admits that in the early stages of implementation, some passengers, especially the elderly, people with disabilities or people who do not yet carry CCCD, may encounter difficulties in carrying out authentication.
Therefore, the Center applies a flexible plan for some groups of passengers. Elderly people, people with disabilities or passengers who forget to bring CCCD only need to notify the flight attendant to be recorded for their turn on the system.
The Center will also deploy the issuance of physical cards to the elderly and people with disabilities to help make the use of buses more convenient.
According to the Public Transport Management Center, each authentication not only helps record service use but also contributes to building a database for the city to continue investing, completing and developing the public passenger transport system in a civilized, modern, convenient and safe direction.
Statistics show that from July 1 to the end of July 12, the system of 134 free bus routes in Ho Chi Minh City transported more than 3.2 million passengers, an increase of more than 30% compared to the same period in 2025.
