Starting in June, officials in the capital of south China's Guangdong Province will no longer be able to freely use government-owned cars after working hours. Instead, they will have to pay for use of their cars.

The municipal government of Guangzhou is mulling over collecting fares from officials for their off-work use of government-owned vehicles, ranging from 1.5 yuan to 1.7 yuan (some 23 to 26 U.S. cents) per kilometer.

This is part of the Guangzhou government's efforts in reforming the use of government-owned fleet vehicles to curb lavish expenditures on them.

In order to carry out the reform, the Guangzhou government is planning to install GPS devices on all government-owned cars before June this year to effectively monitor the use of them.

Government-owned cars are not allowed to be used for personal use, in principle, especially after work or on weekends, said Su Zhijia, secretary of Guangzhou Discipline Inspection Committee, the city's graft monitoring body.

It is a common practice, however, for Chinese officials to use government-owned vehicles for private businesses after work, which has long been criticized by the public who are eager to see a clean and economical government.

The annual cost to run a government-owned car, including oil, insurance, maintenance, repair and payment to the driver, is as high as 80,000 to 100,000 yuan in some places; enough to buy an economy car.

Now, the Guangzhou municipal government has ordered the ban on the use of government-owned cars on weekends as the first step towards the reform.

"In case when these cars are used for urgent private business, the users must pay for it," Su told the ongoing annual session of the municipal parliament.

The fare, Su added, was calculated by the finance department of the city.

The Guangzhou government started a pilot reform program last year at the Huangpu District, the Finance Bureau and the Municipal Management Commission.

Government-owned cars at these institutions were installed with GPS and identification systems for better surveillance and monitoring.

Detailed use of these cars could then be monitored and recorded at the terminal set up at the Discipline Inspection Committee.


Zhang Jieming, director with the Finance Bureau of Guangzhou, said the measures were effective as almost all cars, except those on official tasks, remained parked at the bureau on weekends.

In Huangpu District, expenditure on government-owned car use in 2010 was reduced one-quarter from the previous year, said Su, without giving details.

In spite of all the acclaims, however, the decision has also sparked a flurry of skepticism and criticism among deputies and netizens.

Liang Shengxiang, a deputy with the Guangzhou Municipal People's Congress, the local legislature, said the measure to prevent private use of government-owned cars by collecting fares is unrealistic, as enforcement is difficult.

"Who will be responsible for collecting the money and how? And where will the money go to?" Liang asked.

Others think the 1.5 to 1.7 yuan fare per kilometer is too low for car users, as the fare for taxis is much higher.

Netizen "Shishi1689" said the measure would become a form of welfare tailored for government officials in power.

While some even worry that by collecting fares, the practice of using government-owned cars for private business will be legalized, which violates the initial intentions.

Su Zhijia said that the principle of forbidding private use of government-owned cars should be adhered to, and the fare-collecting measure is more like a "soft punishment", which needs to be further polished and improved upon.