For anyone who regularly uses the \"limousine\" or \"shuttle van\" contract buses in Vietnam, pickup points and booking practices may change starting August 10. Decree 218\/2026 (Ngh\u1ecb \u0111\u1ecbnh 218\/2026\/N\u0110-CP), which took effect that day, explicitly bans contract buses (xe h\u1ee3p \u0111\u1ed3ng) from picking up or dropping off passengers at head offices, branch offices, representative offices, or on the street. Operators that violate this can have their transport business license revoked outright. The rule hits routes like Hanoi-Sapa or Ho Chi Minh City-Da Lat, which have effectively run \"almost like scheduled buses\" departing from travel agency offices \u2014 a direct concern for how residents and business travelers choose their transport.<\/p>\n
This decree amends Decree 158\/2024 on road passenger transport. The focus is on where contract buses pick up and drop off passengers. Operators of vehicles with 8 or more seats (excluding the driver's), or vehicles modified from more than 8 seats down to under 8, can no longer pick up or drop off passengers at their own head office, branch office, or representative office, or at a fixed location they lease or partner with. Pickup and drop-off on the street is likewise banned. The Vietnamese text of the decree explicitly states that pickup and drop-off at a \"tr\u1ee5 s\u1edf ch\u00ednh, tr\u1ee5 s\u1edf chi nh\u00e1nh, v\u0103n ph\u00f2ng \u0111\u1ea1i di\u1ec7n\" (head office, branch office, representative office) is not permitted.<\/p>\n
It's not only about location. The decree also bans confirming individual passengers' seat bookings, selling tickets, collecting fares directly from each passenger, and running a fixed route or timetable aimed at multiple passengers or multiple clients. In short, the rule shuts down the practice of \"carrying an unspecified number of passengers, like a scheduled bus, at set places and times.\" A genuine charter \u2014 one contract hiring out one whole vehicle \u2014 remains allowed as before.<\/p>\n
This is where misunderstanding is easy. What the initial reporting describes isn't a monetary fine or violation points, but the heavy administrative penalty of revoking the transport business license (gi\u1ea5y ph\u00e9p kinh doanh v\u1eadn t\u1ea3i). A contract bus operator that violates the pickup\/drop-off rules has its license revoked. It must cease operations within 10 days of the revocation decision being signed, and the license won't be reissued for 30 days from that signing. Even after 30 days, the operator has to reapply for both the license and the vehicle permit from scratch.<\/p>\n
Because no fine amount has been made public, this article doesn't include figures for fines or violation points. The confirmed facts are these three: \"license revocation,\" \"business suspension within 10 days,\" and \"no reissue for 30 days.\"<\/p>\n