Saigon’s car registration offices are currently chock full of vehicle owners hoping to get their new rides licensed.
According to Tuoi Tre, many district bureaus have reported three times as many applicants as usual, to the point that some centers have had to temporarily stop receiving new applications. Last Friday, at the car registration office on Tan Binh District’s Hong Ha Street, throngs of vehicles were already lined up at 7:30am to wait their turn.
The office's director, Nguyen Dinh Quan, told the news outlet that since last Tuesday, applications have been piling up with no sign of stopping.
“We have to halt the reception of application forms to prevent newcomers from parking their vehicles outside of the facility while waiting for their turn, which compromises traffic safety and is against traffic regulations,” he told Tuoi Tre.
Quan added that the period before the Lunar New Year is usually the peak time frame for new vehicle purchases, as many Saigoneers rush to get new cars to use during Tet.
Tuoi Tre also reported that traffic registration bureaus in District 11 and Thu Duc have also suffered the same fate, with queues forming as early as 6am.
[Photo via Thanh Nien]