The transport and finance ministries have instructed all buses and taxies to publicly post fare prices on their vehicles as of October 10, to prevent passengers being over-charged.

Buses will have to post their daily and monthly fares, while taxies will have to post relevant fees on their doors.

Passenger and tourist coaches and lorries following fixed routes will also be required to post their rates on the outside of their vehicles.

Transportation businesses must post their rates at ticket sales points, and on their vehicle doors.

Businesses that violate the new ruling will be subject to administrative punishment based on their level of infringement, and will be forced to compensate customers.

Transport service providers at bus stations, transport agents, ticket agents and suppliers of such services such as cargo transportation, storage and break-down recovery vehicles, are also required to provide services fee to customers.

The new regulation has received a positive response from both customers and taxi businesses.

A representative from Thanh Nga taxi company said the regulation was expected to help prevent illegal taxies, as well as help taxi businesses improve their relationship with passengers.

"With the fixed rates posted outside the cars, passengers will have the ability to respond to any rip-off charges by drivers," she said.

Passengers would also have more options before getting in any taxi, she said.

"The firm has started to post the rates outside the doors of some of our taxi fleet, and all of our taxies will have the fees posted outside the doors before the deadline," she added.

Many coach drivers over-charge passengers, complained Nguyen Ngoc Minh in Bach Khoa Ward, Hai Ba Trung District.

"I had to pay the same fare as other passengers who had travelled further than me, when I travelled from Hanoi to northern Ha Nam province last week, when I should have been charged 10,000 VND (0.5 USD) less than them," she said.

If the fare price is clearly posted on the coach, it will help passengers avoid being ripped-off," she said.

Deputy Chief Inspector of Hanoi Transport Department Hoang Van Manh said one of key reasons for the chaos associated with taxes, coaches and buses, was the increase in the sheer number of vehicles, which made it difficult for authorities to control.

There are around 400,000 vehicles involved in transport services nationwide, including more than 100,000 over nine-seat coaches and 30,000 under eight-seat taxies./.