Audit Finds Widespread Overpayments Under Vietnam’s Decree 178 Benefits Program

Vietnam’s State Audit has found mistakes across the implementation of benefit policies under Decree 178/2024 and Decree 67, with some people receiving hundreds of millions of dong more than they should have. In several cases, incorrectly paid money has not yet been fully recovered.

The findings came in Report 1212/BC-KTNN, submitted by the State Auditor General to the prime minister. The audit examined policies for officials, civil servants, public employees, workers and the armed forces during the restructuring of state agencies.

Problems appeared at nearly every stage, from issuing regulations and reviewing applications to identifying eligible recipients, calculating benefits and making payments. In Hanoi, Tay Ninh and Dong Nai, authorities included allowances that did not meet the rules in the current monthly salary used to calculate benefits.

Tay Ninh overcalculated three months of job-seeking benefits for 16 public employees and workers who had unemployment insurance. The province also made arithmetic errors in three cases. At the Ministry of Education and Training, auditors found a 15.5 million dong payment difference compared with the ministry’s retirement decision.

Can Tho recorded some of the largest discrepancies. One recipient was incorrectly granted benefits for 60 months, totaling as much as 457 million dong. The city also calculated severance benefits using an incorrect period of social-insurance contributions. In another case, it used the state budget to pay 3.4 billion dong to five recipients even though the funds should have come from self-financing public service units.

The audit also cited incorrect payments in Quynh Nhai and Muong Sai communes in Son La province, where recovery efforts remain incomplete. In Hanoi, 16 people approved for retirement from July 1, 2025, continued receiving salaries and social-security benefits that month. Some units that took over responsibilities also lacked complete files needed to verify payments.