The Ministry of Public Security has unveiled a draft policy on digital citizen development, with a proposed ‘digital citizen’ scoring system on the VNeID app aimed at encouraging greater participation in digital public services and community activities.
The draft is under consultation until December 31, 2025. If adopted, it would classify citizens by score and tie a range of benefits, including full fee exemptions for many administrative procedures, and preferential treatment on selected taxes.
Here is all you need to know about this proposed scoring system.
Scoring based on digital activities
Under the draft, the system would score citizens based on their engagement with digital public services, contribution to the digital community, and activity on VNeID - the national digital identity platform.
The system splits citizens into 3 tiers: Those who have scores above 350 will be “Active Digital Citizen”; between 100 and 349 scores are classified as “Basic Digital Citizen”, and under 100 are “Unclassified Digital Citizen”.
Citizens will initially be awarded 100 points upon completing their profile on VNeID, with the score maintained as long as they earn at least 50 additional points in the subsequent years. Points can be earned through activities such as updating personal data, using digital public services, and participating in surveys and policy feedback on the platform.
The system sets clear rules to prevent fraud and manipulation, such as suspending point accumulation in cases of legal violations, standardising activities to avoid duplication, and limiting incentives that could encourage repetitive actions solely to gain points.
No punishment for low-scoring citizen
The system has drawn comparisons with the existing social credit system in China, which rates citizens, businesses and organizations based on their social behaviour, such as compliance with transport regulations or on-time loan repayments.
Established nationwide in 2014, China’s social credit system (SCS) combines government databases, court records and regulatory lists to assess citizens’ behaviour, rewarding higher scorers with benefits such as easier access to loans and priority services. In contrast, those with low scores may face penalties, including travel restrictions or public disclosure.
In Vietnam, the government has pledged that the digital citizen scoring system will not restrict citizens’ rights or benefits, and that no penalties will be imposed on those with lower scores.
“Active Digital Citizens” - those with the highest scores - would be rewarded for a full fee exemption for 66 basic administrative procedures, including vehicle, marriage and birth registrations. They would also receive a 50% fee reduction for 56 advanced procedures, such as construction permit applications. In addition, this group would qualify for a 10% reduction across five types of taxes, including personal income tax.
Encouragement or control?
The system is to encourage digital engagement and citizen involvement in digital public services, as Vietnam push ahead with the government’s digital transformation. Expert praises it as an innovative approach that favours soft incentives over administrative orders.
However, the concept of a scoring system has sparked concern over social media and forums. Although the government has reassured that the system only aims for encouragement and no punishment is involved, many worry that it could deepen social stratification and inadvertently open the door to forms of control or discrimination not fully addressed in the proposal.
Lawyer Tran Khanh Van has stressed that the purpose of the scoring system is to assess digital skills, not to judge an individual’s value. Without clear guidance and careful implementation, the line between incentive-based scoring and judgment measures could become blurred, potentially turning a soft governance tool into a source of control on citizens’ rights.
“The digital citizen score does not constitute a legal ground for evaluating an individual’s character, ethics or law-abiding behaviour. Even a low score must not be interpreted as a criminal or administrative record, and cannot be used for investigation, prosecution, trial, disciplinary measures or sanctions,” - he wrote on Lao Dong.
“Administrative agencies must also clearly recognise that the digital citizen score cannot be used to restrict or delay citizens’ rights. Even citizens with lower scores are legally entitled to timely and lawful administrative services. Any scoring system should only confer additional incentives and must never evolve into a “de facto requirement” for accessing basic rights.”
