Landlord Charging Too Much for Electricity in Vietnam? Here's the Legal Price (2026)

A landlord who charges a tenant above the regulated household price can be fined 20,000,000–30,000,000 VND and must refund the excess. The price is the six-tier household tariff, before VAT. A family renting counts as one quota. Students and workers on a lease under 12 months, where the landlord has not declared every occupant, pay tier 3 on every kWh.

Vietnam has one household electricity tariff with six tiers, from 1,984 to 3,460 VND/kWh before VAT. How it applies to a rented home depends on who rents: a family, or students and workers. A landlord who charges a tenant more than the regulated price can be fined.

What the law says about the price

If you want to check what your landlord bills you, start with the price the law sets: for household customers who are not in the competitive electricity market, the Law on Electricity applies a rising tiered household retail price. If you are the buyer under the electricity contract, you have the right to ask the seller to review the amount you’re billed. At a rental address there is one contract, signed by the landlord or by a tenant household or representative.

The household tariff, tier by tier

Take a 200 kWh reading tier by tier: the first 50 kWh falls in tier 1, and the next 50 kWh (51–100 kWh) falls in tier 2. The remaining 100 kWh falls in tier 3, which covers 101–200 kWh. The household retail tariff has six tiers, before VAT:

• 0–50 kWh: 1,984 VND/kWh
• 51–100 kWh: 2,050 VND/kWh
• 101–200 kWh: 2,380 VND/kWh
• 201–300 kWh: 2,998 VND/kWh
• 301–400 kWh: 3,350 VND/kWh
• 401 kWh and up: 3,460 VND/kWh

To check a bill, multiply each tier’s kWh by its price and add them up. The table excludes VAT, so compare your bill with that sum before VAT, or add VAT to the sum first. A family renting counts as one household quota, so check its bill against this table. Students and workers renting are billed under the tenant rule below.

The rule for tenants: how the household tariff is applied

At each rental address, the electricity seller signs only one electricity purchase contract. The landlord is responsible for providing the tenant’s residence information for that address.

Where the tenant is a household (a family renting together), the landlord signs the electricity contract directly, or authorizes the tenant household to sign it with a payment commitment. That tenant household counts as one quota.

Where students and workers rent and the tenant is not a family, the rule is a transitional one. Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT took effect on 2 December 2025, except for listed provisions. This circular ends the validity of the earlier circular on electricity prices, apart from the transitional provisions in its own Article 20.

Point c of clause 5 of Article 12 of Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT is its own rule for students and workers renting. It is on the list of exceptions, and takes effect from the date of the next adjustment of the average retail electricity price after Decision 14/2025/QĐ-TTg took effect. Until that date, Article 20 of Circular 60/2025/TT-BCT keeps the earlier tenant rule in force.

Under that earlier rule, where the lease is 12 months or more and the tenant has registered temporary or permanent residence, the landlord signs the electricity contract directly. A representative of the tenants may sign it instead, with a commitment on payment of the landlord’s electricity bill. The registered residence is determined from the residence information for the address.

With a lease under 12 months, if the landlord hasn’t declared every occupant, the whole consumption measured at the meter is billed at the tier 3 price (101–200 kWh). That is the tier 3 price on every kWh the meter shows, however many that is.

A quota is the kWh range of each tier in the tariff above. For households sharing one meter, the shared quota is each tier’s range multiplied by the number of households.

If the landlord declares every occupant, the seller grants the quota based on the residence information for the address, and every 4 people count as one household for the quota:

• 1 person = 1/4 of a quota
• 2 people = 1/2 of a quota
• 3 people = 3/4 of a quota
• 4 people = a full quota

The landlord must tell the seller whenever the number of tenants changes.

If your landlord still charges more than that

A decree that took effect 25 May 2026 repealed many of the previous administrative-penalty rules for the electricity sector. Under it, a landlord who charges a tenant more than the regulated price can be fined 20,000,000–30,000,000 VND. That applies where the electricity is bought at the household retail price for daily living.

That fine level is the one that applies to an individual violator. On top of the fine, the landlord must refund the tenant the amount collected in excess, plus interest as the two sides agreed in the contract.

To ask about the household tariff at your address, contact Da Nang Power Company (PC Da Nang). Its head office is at 35 Phan Dinh Phung Street, Da Nang, phone (84-236) 2220.501–2220.521. The electricity contract itself is signed by the landlord or a tenant representative, so ask the landlord first whether it has been signed and the occupants declared.

This guide sets out the rule and the prices. It is not advice on a dispute with a specific landlord.

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Not confirmed: Whether the next average retail price adjustment has happened. After it, a new rule for students and workers renting takes effect. Check the tier table on your latest bill. Also open: whether a foreigner's temporary residence declaration counts as the registered residence the 12-month rule asks for. Ask Da Nang Power Company (PC Da Nang).

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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