The People's Committee of Hanoi has recently approved service charges in apartment buildings in the city this year.

From July 9, the minimum and maximum fees for services in buildings with elevators are 80,000 VND (3.7 USD) and 165,000 VND (7.6 USD) per 100 square metres, respectively.

In buildings with staircases exclusively, the rates will be 45,000 VND (2.08 USD) and 50,000 VND (2.3 USD) per 100 square metres, respectively.

The rates will not cover luxury services such as swimming pools, tennis grounds and saunas.

Apartment building management boards are entitled to determine the exact service fees pursuant to the city's rates framework.

In the absence of a management board, the service fees will be decided by the agreement of more than half its residents.

Relevant agencies, such as the city's departments of construction, finance, natural resources and environment have been asked to oversee the charge of apartment service fees and propose changes as needed to match the permitted rates.

The city’s People's Committee began imposing an annual framework of apartment service fees two years ago after conflicts over the issue arose in the city.

According to official statistics, as of April 2015, Hanoi had established 156 management boards to administer in 259 of 599 apartment buildings.-VNA