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THE
MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
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SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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No:
1866/1999/QD-BGTVT
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Hanoi,
July 30, 1999
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DECISION
PROMULGATING THE REGULATION ON INLAND WATERWAY PASSENGER
TRANSPORTATION
THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 22/CP
of March 22, 1994 defining the tasks, powers, State management responsibility and
organizational structure of the Ministry of Communications and Transport;
At the proposals of the Director of the Legal Department and the Director of
Vietnam Inland Waterway Bureaus,
DECIDES:
Article 1.- To
promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on inland waterway
passenger transportation.
Article 2.- This
Decision shall replace Decision No. 1036/QD-VT of June 12, 1990 of the Minister
of Communications, Transport and Post, and take effect 30 days after its
signing.
Article 3.- The director
of the Office, director of the Legal Department and director of Vietnam Inland
Waterway Bureaus of the Ministry, directors of the provincial/municipal
Communications and Transport Services (the Communications and Public Works
Services), the heads of concerned agencies and organizations as well as
relevant individuals shall have to implement this Decision.
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FOR THE MINISTER OF
COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
VICE MINISTER
Dao Dinh Binh
REGULATION
ON INLAND WATERWAY PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION
(Issued together with Decision No. 1866/1999/QD-BGTVT of July 30, 1999 of
the Minister of Communications and Transport)
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1.- Purposes,
objects and scope of application
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2. Objects of application: This Regulation shall
apply to organizations and individuals of all economic sectors, including
organizations and individuals that have foreign investment capital and are
licensed to do business in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
3. Scope of application: This Regulation shall
apply to the passenger transportation on the inland waterways of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam, and domestic and international transshipment of passengers
if it is not contrary to the international treaties which Vietnam has signed or
acceded to.
The passenger transportation across inland
waterways shall comply with separate regulations.
Article 2.-
Interpretation of terms
In this Regulation, the following terms shall be
construed as follows:
1. "The carrier" means an organization
or individual that uses its/his/her own means or rents means owned by others to
do business in the passenger transportation on inland waterways.
2. "The passengers" mean people
onboard passenger transport means, excluding crew members and their family
members living onboard the means as well as persons assigned to perform public
duty thereon.
3. "Luggage" means the passengers’
belongings and goods carried along in their journey, which includes handbags
and accompanied luggage.
4. "Handbags" mean the luggage taken
care of by the passengers themselves throughout their journeys.
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6. "Unaccompanied baggage" means the
passengers’ belongings and goods to be carried by any shipment on which the senders
do not travel.
7. "Dangerous goods" mean toxic
substances, inflammables, explosives, which are dangerous to people, means and
environment.
8. "Force majeure cases" mean cases
where natural calamities, epidemics, enemy sabotage occur or the transport
lanes are obstructed.
Article 3.- Conditions
for dealing in passenger transportation; dealing in ports and passenger wharves
(hereinafter referred collectively to as the passenger wharves).
1. Persons dealing in passenger transportation
must acquire the business registration certificates or the business licenses
for passenger transportation on inland waterways.
2. The passenger transport means must have all
papers as prescribed, have emergency medicines, be kept clean and beautiful.
For long-distance means and means operating at nights, services must be
provided for passengers’ daily-life activities.
3. Passenger wharves must be licensed by
competent bodies according to regulations.
There are two types of passenger wharves: The
primary wharves and the secondary wharves.
The primary wharves means the departure location
and the destination of the means.
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b/ The secondary wharves are places where the
means take in and release passengers en route.
A secondary wharf must be furnished at least
with a pier for safe embarkation and disembarkation by the passengers and
adequate lighting if it operates at night.
Chapter II
PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION
Article 4.- Obligations
of the carrier.
The carrier shall have the following
obligations:
1. To equip each means with an itinerary chart
and safety rules;
2. To organize the safe transport, take-in and
release of passengers from the departure place to the destination according to
schedule and the right route prescribed in the itinerary chart.
Where there is a change to the itinerary chart,
the carrier shall have to notify it to the passengers at least 10 days in
advance. Where there is a change to the departure time, the passengers must be
informed thereof at least 24 hours in advance;
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4. To receive passengers in a civilized and
decent manner;
5. All primary wharves must be open for
passengers to board the means at least 30 minutes before the means leave the
wharves.
When approaching a wharf, the ship master must
announce to the passengers the name of wharf; the minimum time for stopping at
the wharf shall be 10 minutes before the means reach the wharf.
6. To popularize the passengers with the travel
rules and the way of using the life buoys and other safety devices;
7. To buy insurance for the passengers;
8. To reduce load in the flood seasons as
prescribed.
Article 5.- Rights of
the carrier
The carrier shall have the following rights:
1. The carrier may collect charges for the
transportation of passengers, accompanied luggage in excess of the prescribed
free-of-charge limits, unaccompanied baggage and for other services if
requested by passengers;
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- Persons who commit acts of causing public
disorder, breaching the safety rules, obstructing the operation of the means;
- Drunkards who may cause harms in the course of
transportation;
- Persons suffering from epilepsy or mental
diseases without anyone to accompany them;
- Persons carrying goods categories prescribed
in Clause 3, Article 11;
- Persons failing or refusing to buy travel
tickets;
- Unaccompanied baggage falsely declared.
Article 6.- Prohibitions
on the carrier
The carrier is strictly forbidden to:
1. Sell tickets at prices higher than the
prescribed ones;
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3. Staff members onboard the ships drink
alcohols and/or beer; letting persons who have no duty to enter their working
rooms while on duty.
Article 7.- Obligations
of the passengers
The passengers shall have the following
obligations:
1. To strictly abide by the rules on travel by
ship, to buy tickets and pay charges fully, to board and land at the right
wharves and on time, not to cause disorder in the wharves and on board the
means;
2. To protect their own handbags;
3. To protect the common property on the means;
to compensate for damage caused to or loss of equipment on board the means;
4. To take responsibility for the declaration of
the names and addresses of their own and accompanying children when the ticket
sellers make lists of passengers.
Article 8.- The rights
of passengers
The passengers shall have the following rights:
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2. To request the payment of arising expenses or
the compensation for damage if the carriers fail to carry them according to the
time and places as agreed upon or cause loss of or damage to accompanied
luggage and/or unaccompanied baggage;
3. To be refunded the ticket money fully or
partially corresponding to the distance uncovered due to the faults of the
carriers.
Article 9.- Passenger
tickets
1. The passenger tickets constitute the evidence
of entering into contracts between the passengers and the carriers. The
passenger tickets must be made according to set forms, containing the following
details: The name or registration number of the means; the departure wharf and
the arrival wharf; the departure time; the ticket price.
2. To organize the ticket sale: Wharves shall
have to stipulate the appropriate time for ticket sale, based on the number of
passengers and volume of cargo for each shipment. The ticket selling time must
be posted up at the ticket counters and the passengers’ waiting places. The
time to close the ticket counters shall be 15 minutes at the latest before the
means leaves the wharf.
The quantity of tickets sold for each shipment
must not exceed the number of seats, prescribed by the registry, and must be
announced to the passengers. When selling tickets, the ticket sellers shall
have to make the lists of passengers on board the ships. Such a list shall be
made in 2 copies with 1 being kept at the wharf and another handed over to the
ship master for adding names of passengers who board the ship at secondary
wharves.
3. Ticket price exemption or reduction:
- Under- 5 children shall be exempt from tickets
but have to share seats with their accompanying adults;
- Children aged over 5 to 10 shall enjoy the 50%
reduction of the ticket price and every two of them shall occupy a seat.
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Passengers of the following categories shall be
given priority in ticket purchase according to the order below:
- Sick persons who must be shipped as soon as
possible at the request of the medical bodies;
- Wounded or diseased soldiers of class 1 and
class 2;
- Persons aged over 65;
- Women with children of under 24 months old;
- Pregnant women;
- Journalists;
- Officials and employees of the armed forces on
urgent missions.
5. Ticket check: Before passengers board the
ships or land, the ship attendants shall have to check the passengers’ tickets
in order to detect and handle cases of ticket evasion or misboarding or
mislanding.
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1. Passengers who travel past their designated wharves
shall have to buy tickets for the additional distance.
2. Passengers who have bought tickets for their
whole journeys but landed midway shall not be refunded the money for the
uncovered distance.
3. Passengers who return their tickets at least
one hour before the ships leave wharves shall be refunded 90% of their ticket
price money.
4. Passengers who arrive late after the means
have left according to the announced itinerary schedule and wish to continue
their journeys shall be arranged for the next shipment by the carrier but have
to pay an extra 50% of the ticket prices. If such passengers do not continue
their journeys, their tickets shall be invalid.
Article 11.- Luggage
1. Each passenger shall have 20 kg of his/her
handbag luggage free of charge.
2. A passenger enjoying the 50% reduction of the
ticket price shall have 10 kg of his/her handbag luggage free of charge.
3. Handbag luggage of the following categories
are prohibited from being carried on board the ships:
- Dangerous goods; goods banned from
circulation;
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- Live animals;
- Bulky commodities obstructing the passengers’
movement on board the means.
Article 12.- Cases of
transport failure due to the carriers’ faults
1. After tickets are sold, if a ship fails to
leave as scheduled and the passengers have to stay overnight in waiting, the
carrier shall have to bear all arising costs. If passengers do not wish to
continue their journey and return their tickets, the carrier shall have to refund
the whole amount of ticket money and freight (if any) to such passengers.
2. Where a ship breaks down, being unable to
continue its journey, the shipmaster shall have to seek ways and means to carry
the passengers to the arrival wharf safely.
- If passengers have to stay overnight in
waiting, the carrier shall provide lodgings and meals to them and bear all
arising costs.
- If passengers do not wish to wait for
resumption of their trips, the carrier shall have to refund them the ticket
money and freight for the remaining distance;
- If the shipmaster arranges another means to
return to the departure wharf, the passengers shall return there without having
to pay for their fares and freight and be refunded the ticket money and cargo
freight they have paid.
Article 13.- Force
majeure cases
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1. If the means have not yet departed, the
carrier shall have to immediately notify the cancellation or suspension of the
trip to the passengers and refund them all the ticket and freight money;
2. If the means are on their itinerary:
a/ Where the means have to take other routes
longer than the usual routes, no extra ticket money shall be collected from the
passengers.
b/ Where the means can not wait for the traffic
restoration and have to return to the departure place, the passengers shall not
have to pay for the return tickets and freight and be refunded the ticket and
freight money for the uncovered distance.
Article 14.- Happenings
to passengers on the routes
Happenings to passengers along the travel routes
shall be handled as follows:
1. Where a passenger falls into the water, the
shipmaster shall have to quickly organize the rescue. If all attempts have
still failed to rescue the passenger, a record thereof must be made to the
witness of the passengers’ representative and the victim’s next of kin (if any)
and at the same time the case shall be reported to the authorities of the
locality where the accident has occurred; where the victim is not accompanied
by any next of kin, the accident must be notified to his/her family, relatives
or office for settlement.
2. Where a passenger dies on board the vessel,
the shipmaster shall, together with the dead person’s relatives (if any) and
the passengers’ representative, make the record thereof and take the dead body
onto the nearest wharf. If the dead passenger is not accompanied by any
relative, the shipmaster shall carry him/her onto the nearest wharf and appoint
someone to stay back and contact the local authorities and the concerned
insurance agency to carry out necessary procedures and at the same to invite
the victim’s family, relatives or office to the place for coordinated
settlement. The dead person’s luggage must be inventoried and the record must
be made to hand them over to the dead person’s family, relatives or office.
3. Passengers getting sick during the journey:
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- If damage is caused to a passenger’s health
due to the carrier’s fault, the latter shall have to make compensation therefor
according to the current law provisions.
Chapter III
TRANSPORT AND
PRESERVATION OF ACCOMPANIED LUGGAGE AND UNACCOMPANIED BAGGAGE
Article 15.- Conditions
for accompanied luggage and unaccompanied baggage to be transported.
1. To be transported, the accompanied luggage
and unaccompanied baggage shall have to satisfy the following conditions:
- Having sizes and weights suitable to each type
of transport means and the handling conditions at both terminals;
- Being packed according to regulations;
- Not falling into the goods types mentioned in
Clause 2 of this Article;
- With freight paid therefor according to
regulations.
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- The passengers have already got the travel
tickets.
- The luggage shall be received for
transportation to the wharves of their arrivals;
- The luggage must be transported on the same
vessel with the senders even where they are transshipped to another means
during the process of transportation.
2. The following types of luggage and baggage
shall not be received for transportation:
- Dangerous goods; goods banned from
circulation;
- Coffins and corpses (except where there are
permits for the transportation of remains);
- Live animals (except where they are small
animals which are kept in cages and separate compartments of the vessel);
- Rare and precious goods such as gold, silver,
gemstones.
Article 16.- Procedures
for luggage and baggage to be received, transported and preserved
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2. Persons having unaccompanied baggage shall
have to make a declaration of the baggage, stating each types of goods in term
of quantity, volume, the consignor’s name, the consignee’s name.
3. The goods consignors shall take
responsibility for the legality of the goods in the baggage and forward papers
of legal validity to the carrier for report when necessary.
4. The carrier shall have to inspect the
packages, quantities as well as labels of goods and write the certification in
the goods consignment declaration. The goods consignment declaration shall be
made in two original copies to be kept by the passenger and the carrier
separately. Where the payment is made via bank, an additional copy is required
for each party.
The carriers shall announce the reception of
baggage on appropriate routes, depending on the availability of their means,
warehouses and/or storing yards.
5. With regard to transshipment, the
preservation and transshipment of goods to other means shall be undertaken by
the carriers. The carriers and the goods consignors shall have to sign
transport contracts.
Article 17.- Delivery
of luggage and baggage
1. Passengers with accompanied luggage, when
receiving their luggage, have to produce luggage tickets; freight vouchers.
2. Passengers with unaccompanied baggage, when
receiving them, shall have to produce the freight vouchers, goods consignment declarations
and personal papers. If other people receive the goods on their behalf, there
must be the letter of authorization as prescribed by law. Where the consignees
delay the reception of the goods for one day or more, they shall have to pay
the warehousing fees.
3. The passengers shall have to check their
goods at the place of delivery. After the passengers receive their goods, the
carriers shall bear no responsibility for the loss or damage caused to such
goods.
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Upon the detection of false declaration by a
baggage consignor
1. If it is detected before the transportation:
The goods consignor shall have to make a new
declaration of their goods. If they are dangerous goods and/or goods banned
from circulation, they must be unloaded ashore and the goods consignor shall
have to bear all arising costs.
2. If it is detected en route:
a/ If they are neither dangerous goods nor goods
banned from circulation, the carrier shall notify such to the transport hirer
and continue transporting them to the place of delivery; all arising costs (if
any) must be borne by the transport hirer;
b/ If they are dangerous goods and/or goods
banned from circulation, the carrier shall have to report such to the functional
bodies for handling and at the same time inform the goods consignor thereof.
The goods consignor shall, besides having to bear all arising costs, be subject
to a fine trebling the freight.
Article 19.-
Compensation for lost or damaged luggage, baggage
In the process of loading, unloading and
preservation, if luggage and/or baggage are lost or damaged, the carriers shall
have to compensate therefor at the market price at the time and place of goods
delivery. Where the two sides cannot reach agreement on the compensation level,
the damage suffering party may file its petition to the economic arbitration or
the economic court for settlement according to the provisions of law.
Chapter IV
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Article 20.- The means
chartering contracts
A means chartering contract is a contract signed
between the means lessor and the means lessee, hereinafter referred
collectively to as the contractual parties, thereby the means lessee shall use
the means for dealing in the passenger transportation within a given period of
time or for certain shipments. The means leasing prices shall be agreed upon by
the two parties in the contracts (if they are not set by the competent State
bodies).
Where a person dealing in the inland waterway
transportation of passengers hires foreign means, such must be approved by the
Ministry of Communications and Transport.
Article 21.- Forms of
means chartering
Following are forms of means chartering:
1. Limited means charter: The lessor shall
assign the lessee the right to use the means together with the crew;
2. Ceiling means charter: The lessor shall
assign the lessee the right to use the means but not the crew.
Article 22.-
Obligations of the contractual parties
Parties to the contract for means charter shall
have the following obligations:
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a/ To hand over the means and their lawful
papers to the lessee according to the time and place inscribed in the
contracts;
b/ In case of limited means charter, to provide
the crew members with diplomas or certificates suitable to the means as
prescribed, to perform the labor management and bear full responsibility for
matters related to such crew;
c/ To pay for the repair of the means if the
losses arise outside the responsibility of the means lessee.
2. The means lessee:
a/ To use the means according to their utility
and for the right purpose agreed upon in the contract;
b/ To maintain the means and other equipment
unless otherwise agreed upon in the contract;
c/ Upon the expiry of the charter, to return the
means at the right place, on the right time and in the technical status as
agreed upon.
Article 23.- Rights of
the contractual parties
The parties to the means chartering contract
shall have the following rights:
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a/ In case of the ceiling means charter, to be
entitled to nominate a representative to conduct extraordinary inspection of
the fulfillment of obligations by the means lessee but without affecting the
business activities of the means lessee;
b/ To be entitled to recover the means and
terminate the contract if the means lessee seriously breaches the terms agreed
upon in the contract by the two parties.
2. The means lessee:
a/ To use the means and the crew for the
attainment of the purposes agreed upon in the contract;
b/ In cases where the means is requisitioned on
the order of the competent body, the lessee shall notify such to the means
lessor and request the body that has signed the requisition order to use the
means according to its utility and to pay the charges and surcharges incurred
by the requisition.
Article 24.-
Termination of contracts
1. The two parties shall terminate the contract
if the means is missing, wrecked, confiscated or irreparably damaged; and the
party at fault shall have to make the compensation therefor.
2. A means chartering contract shall
automatically terminate if a war or natural disaster occurs, making the
contract unable to be continuously performed. The two parties shall determine
the duration the means has been used for making the payment.
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FOR THE MINISTER OF
COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
VICE MINISTER
Dao Dinh Binh