On June 30, representatives of the Traffic Police Department (CSGT, Ministry of Public Security) said that the Government has just issued Decree No. 238/2026/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 168/2024/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations of traffic order and safety in the field of road traffic; deducting points, restoring points for driver's licenses.
Notably, the Decree supplements new regulations on safety equipment for children in cars and the roadmap for installing image recorders on transport business vehicles.
One of the new points of Decree 238/2026/ND-CP is the regulation to strengthen the protection of children when traveling by car. Specifically, from August 15, drivers of cars carrying children under 10 years old and under 1.35m tall without using appropriate safety equipment will be subject to a warning.
This regulation does not apply to passenger transport business cars. In addition, the Decree also strictly prohibits arranging children under 10 years old and under 1.35m tall to sit in the same row of seats with the driver, except in cases where cars only have one row of seats. According to the Traffic Police Department, this is an important step to improve safety standards for children when participating in traffic.
Decree 238 also supplements strict regulations on the installation, management and transmission of data from journey monitoring devices and image recorders.
From January 1, 2028, penalties will be imposed for violations related to devices recording images of drivers on passenger transport vehicles under 8 seats, cargo transport vehicles (excluding tractor trucks) and internal transport vehicles.
From January 1, 2029, functional agencies will continue to apply penalties for violations related to equipment recording images of passenger compartments.
Drivers of vehicles or transport business units who do not install equipment according to regulations, or installed equipment but the equipment does not operate, falsifying data will be severely punished.
In which, the act of putting vehicles without equipped with journey monitoring devices or image recording devices into operation may be fined from 5-6 million VND for individuals and from 10-12 million VND for organizations that are vehicle owners.
In addition, the Decree continues to tighten the management of passenger transport activities under contracts. Acts of picking up and dropping off passengers at headquarters, branches, representative offices or other fixed locations against regulations will be strictly handled.
In particular, the Decree supplements a fine of 12-14 million VND for drivers of cars that do not engage in transportation business but perform the act of carrying people for money or confirming seating for each passenger outside the signed transportation contract. This regulation aims to prevent the situation of private cars engaged in illegal transportation business, causing disorder and traffic safety.
According to the Traffic Police Department, to comply with the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations (amended) in 2025, Decree 238 has adjusted the sanctioning authority of many titles. Accordingly, the Traffic Police force is clearly defined the authority to sanction violations related to testing and issuing driver's licenses after the Ministry of Public Security takes over state management tasks in this field.
The commune-level police are assigned the authority to handle violations related to vehicle registration, in accordance with the current implementation of vehicle registration at the commune level. The maximum fine level under the authority of the Chairman of the commune-level People's Committee is 37.5 million VND; the Chairman of the provincial-level People's Committee is fined up to 75 million VND.
In the Police force, Provincial Police Directors and Directors of Traffic Police Departments also have the authority to fine up to 75 million VND. Decree No. 238/2026/ND-CP takes effect from August 15, 2026.
