Surveillance cameras required for transport business vehicles

​

Bus Route No. 1 (from Vung Tau intersection bus station to Dong Nai Technology University, Bien Hoa City) has a modern surveillance camera system installed.

Support from businesses

The Government's Decree 10/2020/ND-CP (referred to as Decree 10) dated January 17, 2020 replaces Decree 86/2014 regulating the conditions for automobile transport business that, passenger transport business automobiles of 9 seats or more (including drivers), container trucks, and tractors shall be fitted with cameras to record and store images on the vehicles during travel time.

The minimum time for storing images on the vehicle's camera requires at least 24 hours for vehicles operating on trips up to 500km and at least 72 hours for those operating on trips with a distance of more than 500km, to ensure security and safety for passengers and meet the requirements of state management.

Decree 10’s advantage is that when an enterprise installs a camera on its vehicle, data will be stored and provided to the police and competent inspection agency upon request.

Mr. Lai Xuan Ha, Director of Ha Van One Member Limited Liability Company (Bien Hoa City) said, as an enterprise in the field of tourism and transportation, the above regulations are practical. Camera helps enterprises manage their employees and vehicles remotely. Cases of disputes between our passengers and vehicle operator are resolved thanks to the fully recorded data.

Similarly, Mr. Pham Hoang Minh, Director of Hoang Ha Tourist Service Co., Ltd. (Bien Hoa City), said that the company currently has more than 100 buses, fixed passenger automobiles and rented automobiles. Up to now, basically, the vehicles required to be fitted with cameras according to the regulation have been implemented in general. Particularly, Bus Route No. 2 (from Bien Hoa Bus Station to Nhon Trach District) has completed the installation of cameras for a long time.

VT, a bus supervisor of Bus Route No. 2 said, the installation of cameras on automobiles brings many advantages to the inspection and supervision of ticket purchases, control of the number of passengers getting on and off as well as assurance of security and safety on the vehicles.

“For example, when a passenger buys a ticket but loses it; immediately after that, the surveillance division will output data on the camera to check. The images and sounds were recorded with the conductor and customer's physical traits and voices. Upon image presentation, both sides agree, so the resolution is quick and in accordance with the regulations", said T.

It is necessary to remove the difficulties

Under the new regulation of Decree 10, the country is expected to have about 170,000 vehicles (including 100,000 passenger cars, and 70,000 container trucks and tractors) for camera installation on the vehicles. Although the time for completion of the camera installation as prescribed is running out, up to now, a lot of shortcomings has made businesses and car owners unable to follow the schedule.

Mr. Bui Ngoc Quang, Director of Quang Phat Co., Ltd (Bien Hoa City) said that many passenger transport companies in Dong Nai are concerned about the standards and budget for installing cameras, especially when the businesses are still facing difficulties after the Covid-19 pandemic. His company's turnover so far is only less than 50% compared to that of the previous years. With about 60 vehicles in operation, the cost for the camera installation is up to several hundred million dong, really a burden for the business now.

It is known that currently on the market, a set of cruise monitoring equipment with the function of recording and transmitting image data costs about 4.5 - 5.5 million VND; the cost of maintaining the server and data transmission line is about VND 120,000/vehicle/ month. Thus, the cost of installing cameras for transport business vehicles is not of little value.

“Although the regulations have been put in place, in the midst of the affected enterprise's revenue, the Government and the Ministry of Transport should consider and delay it for a while. As the pandemic is still complicated, it is not known when it will be controlled, transport enterprises should have more time and conditions to come back into operation better” said Quang.

According to some transport companies, there are still inadequacies in regulations on what types of cameras to be installed. Many businesses have previously installed their cameras, but according to the new regulations, they do not comply with the regulations of the Ministry of Transport. Therefore, in order for the implementation to be effective, in addition to the promulgation of equipment regulations, the Ministry of Transport should have guidance and support plans for businesses to soon implement.

Mr. Le Van Duc, Head of the Department of Transport, Vehicle and Driver Management, Department of Transport advised, the analysis and installation of cameras on the means of transport have been made in advance and there is a roadmap for implementation. This practice not only supports authorities with data sources to solve problems of ensuring traffic safety and order security, but also helps transport enterprises to manage and monitor their vehicles and human during operation.

According to Mr. Duc, the mandatory installation of cameras for passenger cars and container trucks is in line with the trend of technology application in transport management and improving safety for passengers. Recently, the Department of Transport has issued a written request for the motor vehicle registration centers, Provincial Automobile Transport Association and transportation business units to promote the camera installation on transport business vehicles according to regulations.         

Le Binh