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The Ministry of Science and Technology is drafting a decree to regulate penalties for administrative violations in the digital technology industry. The draft outlines warning measures and monetary fines, with additional sanctions depending on the severity of the breach.
Under the draft, the main penalty forms include warnings and monetary fines. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the violation, authorities may also apply measures such as revoking licenses, suspending operations for up to 24 months, confiscating goods, or expelling foreign nationals.
The draft sets maximum monetary penalties at 100 million VND for individuals and 200 million VND for organizations. For the same offense, individuals may be fined at half the amount applied to organizations.
The general statute of limitations for imposing penalties is one year. It is extended to two years for violations related to controlled trials, intellectual property, investment incentives, breaches involving support and investment incentives, taxation, budgeting for the production of key digital technology products, and violations in the semiconductor sector.
For violations of general regulations governing operations in the digital technology industry, the draft prescribes fines of 10–20 million VND for failing to provide, update, or share data as required by regulatory authorities.
Intellectual property violations would be handled under applicable laws.
For serious acts, the draft sets fines of 70–140 million VND, including cases where digital technology is used to infringe national interests, security, or social order; digital products or services are used to commit illegal acts; or illegal activities are obstructed or aided.
For breaches of rules on support and investment incentives for producing digital technology products or providing digital technology services, the draft proposes fines of 30–60 million VND for providing false information or falsifying documents to obtain ordinary investment incentives in the digital technology sector.
A fine range of 70–140 million VND applies where fraud is used to obtain higher incentives, including incentives for key projects such as software, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and data centers; receiving budget support; or benefiting from customs priority. The draft also includes penalties for providing false declarations to import used equipment for R&D within this bracket.
For more serious cases involving falsifying documents to obtain special incentives for large-scale projects, fines can reach 150–200 million VND.
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