Riding Rules & Licenses
Vietnam Motorbike License Fines 2026: What Tourists Actually Pay
Vietnam Motorbike License Fines 2026: What Tourists Actually Pay
Vietnam motorbike license fines run from 2 to 8 million dong, plus the bike held for up to seven days. Here is every figure a tourist in Hoi An can meet, checked against the September 2026 rulebook.
Most of the fine tables tourists find online are wrong in one of two ways. Some still quote the old Decree 100 figures from 2019, when riding without a license cost less than a nice dinner. Others copy the new numbers but miss the detail that decides which row applies to you: the engine size of the bike, and whether the paper in your bag is a permit Vietnam actually recognises. We rent bikes at 84 Phan Chau Trinh every day and get asked about Vietnam motorbike license fines more than about fuel or parking combined, so this is the table we wish every rider had read before they arrived.
Everything below comes from Decree 168/2024/ND-CP, in force since 1 January 2025, and the amending Decree 238/2026/ND-CP that took effect on 15 August 2026. We say where sources disagree and where the law is vaguer than blogs make it sound.
- Vietnam motorbike license fines at a glance
- License fines by engine size
- What counts as a valid license for a foreigner
- The other fines tourists actually get
- What changed in 2026 (Decree 238)
- What happens when police stop you
- The costs that come after the fine
- Riding legally with no license
- Five habits that keep you off the table
- Frequently asked questions
Vietnam motorbike license fines at a glance
If you only read one section, read this one. The table groups the Vietnam motorbike license fines with the handful of other penalties that tourists in Hoi An run into most often. Dollar figures are rounded at roughly 26,000₫ to the dollar.
| Offence on a motorbike | Fine (₫) | Roughly |
|---|---|---|
| No valid license, bike up to 125cc or electric up to 11 kW | 2,000,000–4,000,000 | $75–150 |
| No valid license, bike over 125cc or electric over 11 kW | 6,000,000–8,000,000 | $230–300 |
| Valid license held, but not carried | 200,000–300,000 | $8–11 |
| Registration card or compulsory insurance not carried | 200,000–300,000 each | $8–11 each |
| No helmet, or strap not fastened (rider or passenger) | 400,000–600,000 | $15–23 |
| Holding and using a phone while riding | 800,000–1,000,000 | $30–38 |
| Running a red light, or riding against the traffic flow | 4,000,000–6,000,000 | $150–230 |
| Any alcohol in breath or blood (lowest tier) | 2,000,000–3,000,000 | $75–115 |
Two things are easy to miss. First, fines for missing documents stack: forget the license, the registration card and the insurance certificate at the hotel and you are looking at three separate fines, not one. Second, the license fine is rarely the whole bill. The bike can be held, and the rental shop has to go and collect it.
The fine is printed in the decree. The day you lose waiting for the bike to come back out of the compound is not.
Vietnam motorbike license fines by engine size
Vietnam splits motorbikes into two license classes, and the fine follows the class you should have held. The 2024 Road Traffic Law created class A1 for motorcycles up to 125cc or up to 11 kW for electric bikes, and class A for anything bigger. Below both sits the moped category, 50cc or 4 kW with a top speed of 50 km/h, which needs no license at all.
| Bike you are riding | License class needed | Fine without it | Typical rental bikes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 50cc / 4 kW, max 50 km/h | None (rider must be 16+) | No license fine applies | SYM Shark 50cc, KYMCO Like 50cc |
| 50–125cc, or electric up to 11 kW | A1 | 2,000,000–4,000,000₫ | Honda Vision, Air Blade, Wave, Janus |
| Over 125cc, or electric over 11 kW | A | 6,000,000–8,000,000₫ | Honda PCX 160, Yamaha NMAX 155, ADV 160 |
The jump at 125cc catches people who “upgrade” for a trip to the Hai Van Pass. A tourist who would have risked 2–4 million on a Vision risks 6–8 million on a PCX, for the same missing piece of paper. If your permit only covers A1, that bigger scooter is a no-license offence even though you are carrying a perfectly good document.
“Not carrying” is not the same as “not having”
If you hold a valid permit but left it in the hotel safe, the offence is not carrying it: 200,000–300,000₫. The catch is that the officer cannot see what is in your safe. In practice the bike is often held until you bring the document to the station, and that costs you half a day. A clear photo on your phone helps the conversation but is not a legal substitute for the original. Carry the permit; leave the passport.
What counts as a valid license for a foreigner
This is where most tourists who think they are legal turn out not to be. Vietnam recognises foreign licenses through one route only: an International Driving Permit issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention, carried together with your original home license. Several common documents do not qualify.
| What you carry | Valid for a motorbike in Vietnam? |
|---|---|
| 1968 IDP with the A or A1 motorcycle category stamped, plus home license | Yes, for the class stamped |
| 1968 IDP stamped for cars only (category B) | No. Treated as no motorbike license |
| 1949 Geneva IDP (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan issue this one) | No |
| Home license alone, no IDP | No, unless converted to a Vietnamese license |
| IDP bought online from a non-government website | No. Only the issuing authority in your country counts |
| Vietnamese license converted from your home license | Yes |
We go through the 1968 versus 1949 question in detail in IDP 1968 in Vietnam, and the licensing side of renting in our guide on the license to ride a motorbike in Hoi An. The short version: open your permit, find the category page, and check which rows carry a stamp before you pick a bike.
The other fines tourists actually get
License checks make the headlines, but the fines we hear about from customers most often are for helmets, phones and passengers. These apply to every rider, with or without a license, and they apply on a 50cc moped too.
| Offence | Fine (₫) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| No helmet, or chin strap open | 400,000–600,000 | Rider fined for a bare-headed passenger too |
| Two passengers (outside the legal exceptions) | 400,000–600,000 | A child under 12 is one of the exceptions |
| Three or more passengers | 600,000–800,000 | — |
| Phone in hand while moving | 800,000–1,000,000 | A mounted phone for maps is fine |
| Speeding 5–10 km/h over | 400,000–600,000 | — |
| Speeding 10–20 km/h over | 800,000–1,000,000 | — |
| Speeding more than 20 km/h over | 6,000,000–8,000,000 | — |
| Red light, or against the traffic flow | 4,000,000–6,000,000 | Watch the one-way streets around the Old Town |
| Riding onto an expressway | 4,000,000–6,000,000 | No motorbike of any size is allowed |
| Red light, speeding or extra passengers that cause a crash | 10,000,000–14,000,000 | — |
Alcohol: the limit is zero
Vietnam does not have a low drink-driving limit for motorbikes. It has none. One beer with dinner at An Bang can put you in the first tier.
| Alcohol level | Fine (₫) | On a Vietnamese license |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 mg/100 ml blood, or 0.25 mg/l breath | 2,000,000–3,000,000 | 4 points deducted |
| 50–80 mg/100 ml, or 0.25–0.4 mg/l breath | 6,000,000–8,000,000 | 10 points deducted |
| Over 80 mg/100 ml, or over 0.4 mg/l breath | 8,000,000–10,000,000 | License withdrawn 22–24 months |
The points system (12 points per Vietnamese license) belongs to Vietnamese licenses; a foreign permit has no points to lose. That is not the relief it sounds like: the top alcohol tier withdraws your right to use the permit in Vietnam, and the bike can be held on the spot. The passenger rules are covered in full in can 3 people ride one motorbike in Vietnam.
What changed in 2026: Decree 238
Decree 238/2026/ND-CP amends Decree 168 and took effect on 15 August 2026. If you read a 2025 article and worry the numbers are out of date, here is what the amendment did and did not touch for motorbike riders.
- License fines: unchanged. The 2–4 million and 6–8 million bands above still apply.
- Helmet, phone, alcohol and speeding fines: unchanged.
- Riders aged 16–17: the wording changed from “motorcycles of 50cc or more” to “motorcycles and similar vehicles”. The fine stays 400,000–600,000₫, and a genuine 50cc moped is still legal at 16. VnExpress has a clear explainer of the age rule.
- Number plates: covering, bending or treating a plate so cameras cannot read it now costs 4–6 million dong. Relevant if you are tempted to tape over a rental plate for photos.
- Children in cars: the fine for carrying a child under 10 without a child seat was cut to a warning. Not a motorbike rule, but widely misreported as one.
Before 2025, under the older Decree 100, riding a scooter under 175cc without a license cost 800,000–1,200,000₫. Articles that still quote that figure are describing a rulebook that has been gone for almost two years.
The full Vietnamese text of Decree 168 is on the government policy portal: Nghị định 168/2024/NĐ-CP, full text. Search the page for “mô tô” to jump to the motorbike clauses.
What happens when police stop you
Traffic police in and around Hoi An run checks on the main roads rather than inside the pedestrian Old Town: the roads to An Bang and Cua Dai, the coast road to Da Nang, and the approaches to the city. A stop usually follows the same order.
- You are waved to the sideStop, switch off, take the helmet off so they can see your face. Stay polite; it changes the tone of everything that follows.
- Documents are checkedLicense (with IDP), the bike’s registration card, and the compulsory insurance certificate. Rental bikes carry the last two; ask your shop where they are before you leave.
- Small fines can be settled on the spotFor fines up to 250,000₫ the officer may decide the penalty without a written record.
- Larger fines get a written recordThe officer draws up a violation record (biên bản), explains it and asks you to sign. You pay later at a bank, the State Treasury or online, not in cash to the officer.
- The bike may be heldFor offences such as riding without a license the vehicle can be held for up to seven days while the case is processed, longer in complicated cases.
Foreigners are sanctioned exactly as Vietnamese riders are; Vietnam Law Magazine sets out the procedure in how foreigners are sanctioned for traffic violations. For a calm walkthrough of the conversation itself, see our guide to a police stop in Hoi An.
Offering money to make a fine go away is a separate offence and can turn a 300,000₫ problem into a much larger one. If you don’t understand what you are signing, call your rental shop; if you rented from us, we can explain in Vietnamese what the officer is saying.
The costs that come after the fine
For most tourists the fine is the smallest number in this article. Three other costs are bigger and less talked about.
Your travel insurance
Almost every travel policy excludes accidents where the rider did not hold a license valid for the vehicle. That is decided by your policy wording, not by the officer at the roadside, and it applies whether or not you were ever stopped. A broken wrist that needs surgery in Da Nang costs far more than any line in the fines table. We explain what local cover exists in motorbike insurance in Hoi An and whether a separate policy is worth it in should tourists buy motorbike insurance in Vietnam.
The rental shop is fined too
Decree 168 also punishes the owner who hands a vehicle to someone not qualified to ride it: 8–10 million dong for an individual and 16–20 million for a business. That is why a careful shop asks to see your permit before giving you a 125cc scooter. It is not red tape; it is the shop’s own fine.
Lost days
A held bike means a trip to the station, paperwork in Vietnamese and usually the shop sending someone to collect it. On a five-day holiday, one of those days disappears.
Riding legally with no license in Hoi An
If your permit is a 1949 IDP, or you never got one, you can still ride yourself around Hoi An without touching the Vietnam motorbike license fines at all. Four kinds of vehicle need no license. Prices are today’s daily rates at our shop, checked in September 2026.
| Vehicle | Why no license | From | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genuine 50cc scooter (SYM Shark 50cc, KYMCO Like 50cc) | Moped class, 16+ | 200,000₫/day | Old Town, An Bang, Tra Que, Thanh Ha |
| Low-power electric scooter (Mini Electric Scooter, VinFast) | Moped class, ≤4 kW | 150,000–200,000₫/day | Town and beach, short hops |
| Electric bicycle (pedal-assist) | Bicycle rules | 100,000₫/day | Rice fields, Cam Thanh, the beaches |
| Bicycle | Bicycle rules | 50,000₫/day | Everything within about 5 km |
A moped’s top speed is 50 km/h, so a day trip to My Son or the Hai Van Pass is not what they are built for. Around Hoi An they are exactly right. Be careful with “50cc” bikes elsewhere: some are 110cc scooters with a sticker, and riding one without a license is the 2–4 million offence. Our 50cc license guide shows the thirty-second check, and do electric motorbikes need a license explains where electric bikes cross into A1. Browse the no-license bikes or read renting in Hoi An without a license.
Five habits that keep you off the table
- Match the bike to the stampA1 on your permit means 125cc or 11 kW at most. Pick the bike after you open the permit, not before.
- Carry originals, not the passportHome license and IDP in your pocket, a photo of the passport and visa page on your phone.
- Helmet on, strap closed, every timeIncluding the two-minute ride to dinner. It is the fine we hear about most.
- Phone in a mountNavigation is fine; holding the phone is 800,000₫.
- No drinks if you’re ridingTake a Grab back from the beach bar and collect the bike in the morning.
The Old Town has its own vehicle hours, and riding into the walking streets when the barriers are up is a separate problem; the times are in Hoi An Old Town vehicle restriction hours. For more everyday habits, our list of tips to avoid fines when riding in Vietnam picks up where this section stops.
Send us a photo of your permit’s category page and we’ll tell you which bikes you can ride legally, before you pay for anything. Legal no-license options from 50,000₫ a day, helmets included.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the fine for riding a motorbike without a license in Vietnam?
For a motorbike up to 125cc, or an electric motorbike up to 11 kW, the fine is 2,000,000–4,000,000₫ (about $75–150). For anything bigger it is 6,000,000–8,000,000₫ (about $230–300). The bike can also be held for up to seven days.
Did the Vietnam motorbike license fines change in 2026?
No. Decree 238/2026, in force from 15 August 2026, amended Decree 168 but left the license, helmet, phone, alcohol and speeding fines for motorbikes unchanged. It added a 4–6 million dong fine for obscuring number plates and reworded the rule for riders aged 16–17.
Is a 1949 International Driving Permit valid in Vietnam?
No. Vietnam only recognises International Driving Permits issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention, carried with your home license. A rider with only a 1949 permit is treated as having no license, so the full no-license fine applies.
What if I have a valid license but left it at the hotel?
The fine for not carrying a license you hold is 200,000–300,000₫. The officer may still hold the bike until you show the original, so carry the permit and your home license whenever you ride.
Can I pay a traffic fine in cash to the police officer?
Only fines up to 250,000₫ can be settled on the spot without a written record. Larger fines are recorded on a violation record and paid at a bank, the State Treasury or online. Offering cash to avoid a fine is a separate offence.
Do I need a license for a 50cc scooter or an electric bicycle?
No. A genuine moped of 50cc or up to 4 kW with a top speed of 50 km/h needs no license, only a rider aged 16 or over. Electric bicycles and bicycles need no license either. Helmet, alcohol and phone rules still apply.
Will my travel insurance pay if I crash without a valid license?
Usually not. Most travel policies exclude accidents where the rider did not hold a license valid for that vehicle. Read the motorcycling clause in your full policy wording before you ride.
Is the rental shop fined if I ride without a license?
Yes. Decree 168 fines an owner who hands a vehicle to someone not qualified to ride it: 8–10 million dong for an individual and 16–20 million for a business. That is why a careful shop asks to see your permit.
Still unsure about your permit? Start with do you need an IDP to ride in Vietnam.
Fines are taken from Decree 168/2024/ND-CP as amended by Decree 238/2026/ND-CP (effective 15 August 2026), cross-checked with LuatVietnam, Thu Vien Phap Luat and Vietnam Law Magazine in September 2026. Dollar figures are approximate. This is a rider’s guide, not legal advice; when an officer’s reading differs from ours, the officer’s record is what you will be dealing with. Rental prices are our daily rates at 84 Phan Chau Trinh, Hoi An at the time of writing; confirm by message before you book.
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