Month: July 2025

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Kingsley Wong and a written reply by Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):

Question:

It has been learnt that a number of cases involving deaths of public rental housing (PRH) tenants in their own PRH flats occurred in Hong Kong in the past, in which the deaths of such tenants remained unknown for a long time, and there were even cases where their bodies had been reduced to skeletons by the time they were discovered; and there were also cases in which carers died suddenly in their PRH flats, but the relatives living with them were forced to “stay with the dead bodies” as their relatives were unable to seek assistance and report to the Police due to mental incapacity or other reasons. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of cases in each of the past 10 years, in which staff of the Housing Department (HD) found people dead in the flats concerned during home visits or flat recovery work (e.g. breaking into the flats concerned);

(2) of the number of cases in each of the past 10 years, in which the Social Welfare Department (SWD) found people dead in the flats concerned in the course of following up the welfare service matters of PRH tenants;

(3) it is learnt that, following the default on rental payment for two consecutive months by PRH tenants, HD will make several attempts to contact the tenants concerned by means of telephone, written notification or home visits, etc., of the criteria adopted by HD for determining whether it is necessary to refer the cases to other departments for follow-up or to report to the Police after repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact the tenants;

(4) regarding cases in which HD is unable to contact the tenants successfully, whether HD will consider seeking assistance from the Police within a shorter period of time, so as to decide if further actions will be taken in respect of the tenants concerned (e.g. breaking into the flats); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(5) as there are views that enhanced cooperation among different departments will facilitate early detection of death cases in PRH flats and even save lives, whether HD, SWD, the Home Affairs Department and the Police will consider setting up a mechanism for information sharing and cooperation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(6) whether it will promote and encourage the District Services and Community Care Teams (Care Teams), management companies and PRH tenants to set up a system for assuring safety, so that PRH tenants who live alone or need relevant support may participate on a voluntary basis;

(7) given that HD has launched the pilot scheme of Door Sensor Installation for Elderly Households to equip the elderly households who have voluntarily participated in the scheme with the system which allows designated relatives or friends to keep track of the movement of the elderly in and out of their flats, whether the authorities will extend the scheme to cover non-elderly PRH tenants in the future; whether they will promote and encourage the Care Teams and management companies to become one of the designated contact persons, so as to expeditiously follow up the situation of the tenants concerned; and

(8) given that the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions and the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited have joined forces to launch the Gas Guardian Care Network programme, which utilises smart meters to monitor the gas usage patterns of the elderly in real-time, whether the authorities will make reference to the programme and launch other projects in collaboration with the business sector and community organisations to enable carers to check the condition of the elderly, so as to enhance home safety of the elderly?

Reply:

President,

The estate management staff of the Housing Department (HD) will contact public rental housing (PRH) tenants through daily management work, proactively understanding their living conditions in PRH units and will pay special attention to elderly residents living alone. Cases will be referred to other government departments and social welfare organisations as needed to provide assistance. 

In response to the question raised by the Hon Kingsley Wong, in consultation with the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) and the Home Affairs Department, our reply is as follows:

(1), (2) and (5) In the past 10 years (i.e. 2015 to 2024), the number of natural deaths recorded in PRH units under the HD is listed in the Annex. These cases are mainly discovered through the HD’s routine management work (such as patrols, home visits, flat recovery operations, etc.), or were reported by the tenants’ relatives, friends, or neighbours to the estate offices, or referred by other government departments including the police and the Social Welfare Department (SWD) or social welfare organisations. The HD does not maintain statistical breakdowns of the means by which these cases are discovered.

At present, the HD and the SWD have established an inter-departmental referral mechanism to handle special cases of housing assistance for PRH tenants. Liaison groups have been formed at both the headquarters and regional levels to regularly review and improve the cooperation mechanism for housing assistance cases. The HD is also closely collaborating with the LWB and is providing information of PRH tenants under the premise of protecting personal data privacy, with a view to facilitating the LWB to develop a database for following up on hidden and needy elderly individuals.

(3) and (4) According to Section 19(1)(b) of the Housing Ordinance (Cap. 283), when the Housing Authority (HA) serves a notice-to-quit to tenant, at least one month’s notice for termination of tenancy should be given. Upon expiry of the notice, if the occupier still does not voluntarily surrender the unit, the HD can then deploy staff to proceed flat recovery action in accordance with the Housing Ordinance. For rent arrears cases, a series of actions will be taken initially by the HD before serving notice-to-quit, including communicating with tenants through home visits, phone calls or face-to-face interviews. If the tenants still cannot be reached, HD staff will try to reach their relatives and emergency contacts. For some singleton elderly tenants who live by themselves and have not provided any relatives or other contact persons, we will make every effort to contact them through alternative means, including slipping notes through the door gap and into the letter box to ask the tenants to contact the estate office as soon as possible, instructing security guards to monitor the tenants’ entry into and exit from the building, and recording their water and electricity consumption to more closely monitor their situation. If the tenants are in rent arrears due to financial difficulties, cases may be referred to the SWD for follow-up or be provided with assistance to apply for Rent Assistance Scheme, subject to their consent and fulfilment of eligibilities. If the tenants or any of their relatives still cannot be reached despite multiple attempts, the HD will inquire with other departments such as the SWD to check if the tenants are their care cases and their latest situation; or the Immigration Department to check the tenants’ immigration records, etc.; and will seek assistance from the police if necessary. In addition, if HD staff discover suspicious cases during daily management work (e.g. unusual odours emanating from the unit), they will notify the police immediately to take appropriate action, including breaking into the unit as necessary.

(6), (7) and (8) In order to encourage property management companies and security service contractors to be more proactive in assisting PRH tenants in need, we give bidders who can provide effective suggestions for caring the tenants, e.g. establishing volunteer teams to provide volunteer services to the community in the estate and to visit the elderly or individuals/ families in need, etc., additional marks during the tender evaluation, thereby increasing their chances of winning the bid. In addition, the HD organises the annual Estate Management Services Contractor Awards and the Best Security Staff election to commend service contractors and security personnel who have performed well and actively assisted needy residents in the estate. This aims to encourage them to go the extra mile and take the initiative to care for the estates’ PRH residents.

Starting from April this year, the HD launched the pilot scheme of Door Sensor Installation for Elderly Households in Wan Hon Estate in Kwun Tong and Sheung Lok Estate in Ho Man Tin. The elderly households who voluntarily participate in the scheme are equipped with the system which allows designated relatives or friends to keep track of the movement of the elderly in and out of their flats so as to provide timely support when needed. The HD will actively explore the feasibility of implementing other similar schemes in collaboration with other government departments and social welfare organisations, with a view to benefitting more elderly households in other PRH estates.

In addition, the HA also provides subsidies to eligible elderly tenants for the installation of emergency alarm system (Safety Bell), allowing the tenants to seek help timely in case of emergencies. Elderly tenants who require to install Safety Bell but are not receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance can apply for the Emergency Alarm System (EAS) Grant from the HA. Since February 2021, the grant has been extended to mobile devices, including mobile phones and watches equipped with EAS, smartphones with dedicated EAS mobile app installed and other products, allowing elderly tenants to purchase suitable emergency alarm system products on their own. Since the implementation of the grant scheme, approximately 26 000 applications have been approved. The HD has also installed fall detection systems in accessible toilets in some housing estates on a pilot basis to detect situations such as falls, fainting, prolonged stays, etc.

The estate offices under the HA actively assist the Care Teams in promoting care activities, organising community events and providing visits and services to families in need (including elderly households). In addition, the HA collaborates with non-governmental organisations annually to organise activities in various PRH estates.  These activities include outreach visits to identify elderly singleton and hidden elders, providing them with support services such as meal delivery, home repair and cleaning services, escort service for medical appointments, etc., so as to help them maintain basic living needs, expand their social networks and provide emotional support.

The HA will continue to implement the aforementioned measures and will conduct timely reviews, striving to meet the needs of tenants.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

(2) whether it has compiled statistics for each year over the past 10 years on the median monthly income and the median value of monthly mortgage repayment of local owner-occupied households; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) as there are views that home ownership can enhance people’s sense of belonging to community and foster strong work values, but according to a research brief published by the Legislative Council Secretariat in March 2021 and data from the Census and Statistics Department, the overall local home ownership rate and the home ownership rate among young people aged below 35 have both declined in recent years, whether the authorities will consider setting a home ownership rate afresh in LTHS in the future; if not, of the reasons for that; and 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Hong Kong’s housing policy has all along been an important cornerstone of social development. The current-term Government put in place measures to enhance quantity, speed, efficiency and quality in land production. With our unremitting efforts in the past three years, the problem of back-loaded public housing supply (including public rental housing (PRH) and subsidised sale flats (SSF)) has completely turned around. Coupled with Light Public Housing (LPH), the total public housing supply (including also PRH and SSF) in the coming five years (i.e. 2025-26 to 2029-30) will reach 197 000 units, which is a significant increase of 85 per cent as compared with the first five year period since the current-term Government took office (i.e. 2022-23 to 2026-27). In addition, we have successfully capped the waiting time for PRH, which has reduced from the peak of 6.1 years to 5.3 years. The oversubscription rate of Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) has also dropped from the peak of 62 times in HOS 2019 to 14 times in HOS 2024. Looking ahead, with the completion of various public housing (including PRH and SSF) as well as LPH projects, the Composite Waiting Time for Subsidised Rental Housing will gradually decline. Therefore, we have more confidence to provide more SSF to further meet the home ownership aspiration of the public.
 
     Currently, about half of the households are residing in accommodations that they own. For most people, buying a property is a major life decision involving many considerations, such as family and childbearing plans as well as the pursuit of a more independent and modern lifestyle, etc. For low- to middle-income persons who cannot afford private housing, SSF is a very suitable first step in realising their dream of home ownership. In this regard, we have all along been striving to enhance the housing ladder through the provision of various types of SSF in response to the home ownership aspiration of households with different income and encourage citizens from all walks of life to move up the social ladder according to their abilities.
 
     In consultation with the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), our reply to the questions raised by Dr the Hon Wendy Hong is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) Results of the 2016 Population By-census and the 2021 Population Census conducted by C&SD provide statistics regarding home ownership and related demographic and socio-economic characteristics of Hong Kong’s domestic households in the past decade. The number of owner-occupier domestic households by age group of household head and type of housing are listed in Annex 1. Over the past five years, the number of owner-occupier households and households owning SSF increased by over 80 000 and nearly 30 000 respectively, representing growth rates of 6 per cent and 7 per cent. This reflects a rising trend of homeownership among families. The median monthly income and the median mortgage payment and loan repayment of owner-occupier domestic households are listed in Annex 2.
 
     It is worth noting that between 2016 and 2021, only an average of about 4 200 flats were put up for sale under each HOS sale exercise, and the oversubscription rate was as high as about 43 times on average. However, the current-term Government is very determined to tackle the housing problem in Hong Kong. As a result, in the coming five years (i.e. 2025-26 to 2029-30), in addition to PRH/Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (GSH) flats, the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) and the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS) will have a completion of about 56 500 SSF, averaging about 11 000 units annually. This is 2.6 times of the annual output before the current-term Government took office.
 
(3) and (4) As stated above, the current-term Government is very determined to resolve housing problem in Hong Kong and we also care about our young people. Therefore, we have introduced a number of policy measures to assist citizens (especially young people) in realising their home ownership aspiration through various aspects, such as supply, allocation and financial arrangements. Since the current-term Government took office, more than 33 000 applicants have purchased SSF, and the difficulties faced by low- and middle-income families in acquiring their own properties over the past decade or so have been clearly reversed by the concerted efforts of the various teams of the current-term Government in providing more land and housing. With the increasing supply of SSF in the coming years, more residents will experience the happiness and sense of fulfillment brought by homeownership over the next decade, enabling more families to settle securely and thrive in our city.
 
     In addition, in terms of supply, the Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address that the HA would adjust the ratio between PRH (including GSH units) and SSF to gradually adjust the ratio from 7:3 to 6:4 in order to increase the supply of SSF. In the next five years (i.e. 2025-26 to 2029-30), the HA and the HS will complete about 56 500 SSF. As stated above, we believe that a continuous and stable supply of SSF led by the Government is conducive to the upward mobility along the housing ladder and it will help those in need realise their dream of owning a home according to their respective needs and abilities.
 
     At the same time, we have also proposed a series of policy measures to meet the housing needs and demands of different citizens, including revising the ratio between Green Form and White Form in respect of HOS flats from the current 4:6 to 5:5 so as to allow more PRH tenants who would like to purchase HOS flats to move upwards; and increasing the chance of young people and applicants who have made repeated attempts to purchase SSF by optimising the sales arrangements.
 
     Starting from HOS 2024, the HA has implemented the Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme which was announced in the 2023 Policy Address. A quota of about 40 per cent of the new flats for sale (i.e. 2 900 flats) under HOS 2024 were set aside for eligible applicants under the Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme and the Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members for balloting and priority flat selection. During the application period of HOS 2024, the HA received a total of around 106 000 applications. Among them, around 50 000 came from family applicants, in which around 19 000 applied under the Priority Scheme for Families with Elderly Members and Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme, representing around 40 per cent of family applicants. If eligible families applying under the Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme fail to purchase a flat under HOS 2024, they may still apply under the Scheme for priority flat selection as long as their children are aged three or below on the closing day of the application of subsequent SSF sale exercises. In addition, following GSH 2024, the HA will allocate an extra ballot number to applicants who had failed to purchase a flat in the last two consecutive sale exercises starting from the next HOS exercise, so as to increase their chances of success in purchasing SSF. Based on the figures of HOS 2024, assuming all factors remain constant (including the number of applicants, their age, etc), the success rate of eligible families applying under the of Families with Newborns Flat Selection Priority Scheme in purchasing a flat will increase by about 60 per cent, after obtaining an extra ballot number.
 
     The HA has also been assisting low- to middle-income families in purchasing homes through pricing and financial arrangements. First of all, the Government revised the pricing mechanism of SSF in 2018. The pricing of SSF is calculated on the basis of applicants’ affordability, which is delinked from the private housing market. Under the current pricing mechanism, at least 75 per cent of the flats for sale can allow non-owner occupier households earning the median monthly household income to spend no more than 40 per cent of their monthly income on mortgage payment. Based on affordability calculations, the selling prices of the flats offered under latest GSH and HOS sale exercises were set at 60 per cent and 70 per cent of their assessed market value respectively.
 
     On top of this, the HA relaxed mortgage arrangements for SSF in 2024, including extending the maximum mortgage default guarantee from 30 years to 50 years and extending the maximum mortgage repayment period from 25 years to 30 years to enable purchasers of first-hand and second-hand SSF to obtain mortgage loans from banks and authorised financial institutions participating in the provision of mortgage loans for such flats. After the implementation of relevant arrangements, the number of HOS/GSH flats with a residual guarantee period of more than 10 years increased substantially from about 14 per cent to about 98 per cent. As at May 2025, the average number of transactions of second-hand SSF was about 360 per month, which was about 60 per cent higher than the average number of transactions of about 230 per month in the 12 months before the implementation. Besides, after extending the maximum mortgage repayment period for flats sold under the secondary market from 25 years to 30 years, among buyers who applied for mortgages to purchase SSF in the secondary market, more than half of the cases have a repayment period of 25 years or more. This shows that the above measures have successfully revitalised the secondary market and facilitated the turnover of SSF in the secondary market.
 
     For the secondary market, starting from White Form Secondary Market Scheme (WSM) 2024, the HA has also significantly increased the quota by 1 500 to 6 000, all of which will be allocated to young family applicants and one-person applicants aged below 40. Of all the applications for WSM 2024, more than 80 per cent (i.e. about 28 000 applications) were from young applicants who chose to participate in Youth Scheme (WSM), reflecting that the scheme is well received by young people.
 
     In addition, the Government also responds to the home ownership aspirations of higher-income persons who are not eligible for the HOS and yet cannot afford private housing through Starter Homes for Hong Kong Residents (SH) projects. Apart from the first two SH projects offered for sale by the Urban Renewal Authority (i.e. eResidence Towers 1 and 2, as well as eResidence Tower 3) with a total of over 600 SH units sold, the Government is also taking forward a few other SH projects, which will provide a total of around 5 000 SH units from the next few years onwards. Amongst applicants and final purchasers of SH units offered for sale in the past, around 85 per cent were youth aged 40 or below. We believe that this initiative may help another batch of youngsters from the middle class with higher income yet still cannot afford private housing achieve home ownership with more available options.
 
     Having regard to changes in the overall situation of the property market, the current-term Government has since February 2024 abolished all demand-side management measures for residential properties. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has also since October 2024 adjusted the countercyclical macroprudential measures for property mortgage loans. The maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio and debt servicing ratio (DSR) limit were reverted to the pre-2009 levels before the countercyclical macroprudential measures were first introduced, with the maximum LTV ratio for all residential properties adjusted to 70 per cent, regardless of the value of the property, and the DSR limit adjusted to 50 per cent, providing facilitation to persons with different needs for property purchase. Individuals may also obtain high LTV ratio mortgage loans through the Mortgage Insurance Programme according to their own needs. In particular, for first-time homebuyers with regular income purchasing properties priced at $10 million or below, the LTV ratio can be up to 90 per cent, which greatly reduces their down payment burden.
 
     Furthermore, to ease the burden on buyers of properties at lower values, the Government has since 26 February 2025 adjusted the value bands of Ad Valorem Stamp Duty payable for sale and purchase or transfer of residential and non-residential properties, raising the maximum value of properties chargeable to $100 stamp duty from $3 million and $4 million, facilitating those who wish to purchase flats. As most SSF units are priced below $4 million, buyers may benefit from the aforementioned reduction in stamp duty to $100, with savings up to over $59 000. According to the information from the Inland Revenue Department, there were 3 780 duly stamped sale and purchase agreements for residential properties valued between $3 million and $4 million from March to May 2025, which represents a significant increase of over 70 per cent as compared to the same period last year (March to May 2024) where 2 183 sale and purchase agreements were duly stamped.
 
     We will continue to review whether there is room to optimise various relevant arrangements having regard to factors including developments of the property market, the home ownership needs of different citizens, etc.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

The Government announced today (July 9) a proposal to adjust four traffic-related fees, including tunnel tolls, licence fees for electric private cars, the maximum fee level of parking meters, and fixed penalties for traffic offences.

The spokesperson for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said, “The 2025-26 Budget announced that the Government would focus on reviewing traffic charges and fixed penalties that have not been adjusted for many years. Our overall considerations are to enhance traffic management and maintain public fiscal discipline, reflecting the principles of ‘cost recovery’ and ‘user pays’.”

To this end, the Government has formulated a total of four legislative amendments:

(1) Road Tunnels (Government) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2025 – Adjustment of tunnel tolls

Adopting a science-based approach, the Government has reviewed the tolls for government tunnels and major roads, in the order of priority, adhering to four charging principles: traffic management needs, efficiency first, public transport first, and “user-pays”. After comprehensively considering these four principles and the specific circumstances of each tunnel and major road, it has been decided to propose increasing the tolls for the Aberdeen Tunnel and Shing Mun Tunnels, and to introduce a toll for the use of the Central Kowloon Bypass. The new tolls for the Aberdeen Tunnel and Shing Mun Tunnels will be effective on September 21, 2025, while toll collection for the Central Kowloon Bypass will commence when it is fully commissioned in 2026. The toll scheme is summarised as follows:
 

	Current toll (Fixed toll for all vehicles throughout the day)	Proposed toll (Fixed toll for all vehicles throughout the day)
Aberdeen Tunnel	$5	$8
Shing Mun Tunnels	$5	$8
Central Kowloon Bypass (Yau Ma Tei Section Tunnel)	/	$8

The spokesperson for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said, “The tolls for the Aberdeen Tunnel and Shing Mun Tunnels have not been adjusted for 34 years, during which time inflation has exceeded 130 per cent, resulting in operational deficits. The $8 toll is expected to have a minimal impact on traffic, and the adjusted tolls will enable the tunnels to achieve break-even in operations. On the other hand, the Central Kowloon Bypass will alleviate the current traffic congestion on major trunk roads in Kowloon, offering a shorter route with higher speeds, making it highly attractive to drivers. If no toll is charged for the use of the Central Kowloon Bypass, it is expected that its utilisation rate will approach a saturation point shortly after its commissioning. Taking into account the views of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport (TP) and the community, and in order to attract more motorists to use the bypass and hence achieve an effective traffic diversion, the Government is proposing an $8 toll. The proposed toll level will effectively divert approximately 20 per cent of the overall traffic from saturated major roads in Kowloon, while reserving about 15 per cent of spare capacity of the Central Kowloon Bypass to accommodate future traffic growth. It will also recover nearly 80 per cent of basic operational costs; and according to the efficiency-first principle, the fees payable by commercial and public transport vehicles will be consistent with the moderate toll charged for smaller private cars.”

The spokesperson continued, “We have also reviewed other government tunnels and trunk roads in accordance with the four major principles. In summary, taking into account the traffic management needs and traffic flow of other government tunnels and trunk roads, the traffic flow of alternative routes, as well as future transport infrastructure projects related to each route, such as the commissioning of new alternative routes, we recommend maintaining the current tolling arrangements for the time being and reviewing them again at an appropriate time.”

(2) Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2025 – Rationalising the licence fee structure and levels for electric private cars

The existing licence fees for electric private cars are charged by vehicle unladen weight, and the licence fees for fuel-propelled private cars are about six times more than that for electric private cars. The Government proposes to revise the annual licence fee structure for electric private cars by charging licence fees based on their rated power. A five-tier licence fee structure for electric private cars based on their rated power will be introduced, and the fee levels will be suitably adjusted, which would take five phases over six years to complete, to align with technological advancements and practices in other regions. The new licence fee structure will take effect from November 1, 2025, and will apply to newly registered electric private cars, while existing electric private cars will be granted a four-month grace period. Details are as follows:
 

Rated power of electric private cars (kW)	Annual licence fee ($)#*
	November 1, 2025, to February 28, 2027 (with a 4-month grace period)	March 1, 2027, to February 29, 2028	March 1, 2028, to February 28, 2029	March 1, 2029, to February 28, 2030	March 1, 2030, onwards
≤ 75	1,500	1,750	2,000	2,500	3,000
> 75 – 125	2,000	2,500	3,000	4,000	5,000
> 125 – 175	2,500	3,500	4,500	5,500	7,000
> 175 – 225	3,000	4,500	6,000	7,500	9,000
> 225	5,000	6,500	8,000	9,500	11,000
# Exclusive of the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Fund levy (at $114 per vehicle annually). * The fee for a licence for four months is 35 per cent of that for an annual licence, plus an additional fee of $30.

Licence fee concessions will be offered to eligible disabled electric private car owners (see note).

The spokesperson for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said, “Taking into account the views of the LegCo TP, the adjustment of electric private cars licence fees will be implemented in five phases to provide the public with a longer adaptation period. Upon adjustments, the new annual licence fee levels for electric private cars will still be 25 per cent (fifth tier) to 40 per cent (first tier) lower than the current licence fees for fuel-propelled vehicles, to continue encouraging motorists to switch to electric vehicles and promote environmental protection. According to the current type distribution of licensed electric private cars, 99 per cent of the vehicles fall within the first, second and third tiers, while the proportions of vehicles in the fourth and fifth tiers are only 1 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively. As electric vehicles become increasingly popular, with a wider range of brands and models available on the market, and given that electric vehicles have lower energy, repair and maintenance costs compared to fuel-propelled vehicles, we expect that electric vehicles will remain appealing to motorists even after the rationalisation of annual licence fee structure and levels.”

(3) Road Traffic (Parking) (Amendment) Regulation 2025 – Adjustment of parking meter charges

To optimise the use of limited parking resources, the Government proposes to increase the maximum fee for metered parking from $2 per 15 minutes to $4 per 15 minutes, viz. a maximum fee of $16 per hour to increase the turnover of vehicles using metered parking spaces to meet the short-term parking needs of motorists. The new charges for metered parking spaces will take effect from September 28, 2025. The fees for metered parking spaces for goods vehicles, buses and coaches will be maintained at the existing level.

(4) Proposed Motion for Resolutions under the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance (Cap. 237) and the Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance (Cap. 240) – Adjustment of fixed penalties for traffic offences

To enhance traffic safety and ensure a smooth traffic flow, the Government proposes to increase the fixed penalty for illegal parking from the current $320 to $400 (a 25 per cent increase). The fixed penalties for 19 other traffic offences related to road safety and traffic congestion (details in the Annex) will be increased from the current range of $320 to $1,000 to a new range of $480 to $1,500 (a 50 per cent increase). The penalty amounts for other traffic offences will remain unchanged.

The spokesperson for the Transport and Logistics Bureau said, “The fixed penalty levels for illegal parking and most of the traffic contraventions have remained unchanged for 31 years, and their deterrent effect may have been offset by inflation during this period. In fact, the fixed penalty levels of traffic contraventions in Hong Kong are much lower than those of various overseas regions. We have observed that the numbers of certain traffic offences continue to trend upwards or remain at a persistently high level. Adjusting the penalty amounts for these traffic offences will help enhance the deterrent effect, thereby safeguarding traffic safety and maintaining smooth traffic flow. At the same time, the Government will strive to increase the supply of parking spaces to meet parking demand as far as possible.”

The Road Tunnels (Government) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2025, the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulation 2025, and the Road Traffic (Parking) (Amendment) Regulation 2025 will be gazetted on July 18 and tabled at the LegCo on July 23 for negative vetting. As for the penalties for traffic violations under the Schedules to the Fixed Penalty (Traffic Contraventions) Ordinance (Cap. 237) and the Fixed Penalty (Criminal Proceedings) Ordinance (Cap. 240), the LegCo may amend them by resolution under positive vetting. The Secretary for Transport and Logistics will move a motion at the LegCo meeting on July 30 to pass the resolutions. The regulatory details and effective dates are specified in respective amendment regulations and the proposed resolutions, and relevant information is set out in the LegCo brief issued by the Government today.

Note: No licence fee shall be payable where the rated power of an electric private car owned by an eligible disabled person does not exceed 75 kilowatts. Where the rated power of the electric private car exceeds 75 kilowatts, the annual licence fee payable shall be calculated by the deduction from the prescribed annual licence fee payable in respect of its rated power which does not exceed 75 kilowatts.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kin-por and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):

Question:

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Lam San-keung and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):

Question:

In recent years, there have been sporadic cases of indecent assault on public transport which arouse public concern. On the other hand, there are views that physical contact between individuals is difficult to be avoided in crowded vehicle compartments and could be mistaken for indecent assault. Moreover, society’s expectations for safety, comfort and mutual respect among passengers on public transport are increasing. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of indecent assault cases occurred on public transport that the Police received in each of the past five years, and the percentage of these cases out of the total number of cases occurring on public transport; the number of convictions among these indecent assault cases; whether it knows the average time taken by the courts to adjudicate these indecent assault cases; and

(2) whether it will consider introducing women-only or men-only zones or compartments on public transport mass-carriers (e.g. the MTR and franchised buses); if so, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,
 
The Police attach great importance to all cases involving sexual offences and are dedicated to investigating each of them thoroughly, with particular focus on offences taking place on public transport. At present, sexual offences occurred on public transport are mainly indecent assault cases (i.e. offence of indecent assault under the Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200)), for which offenders shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for 10 years. There are also cases of voyeurism and unlawful recording or observation of intimate parts (commonly known as “upskirt photography”), both of which carry a maximum penalty of five years of imprisonment under the Crimes Ordinance.

The Police will continue to strengthen patrols by uniformed and plain-clothes officers in relevant areas, and will work closely with public transport operators to jointly combat indecent assault and its related offences on public transport. In parallel, the Police will step up publicity and education efforts to enhance public awareness and encourage members of the public to report crimes.

In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the reply to the Member’s question is as follows:

(1) In the past five years, the number of reports received by the Police on sexual offences occurred on public transport/interchanges/transport stations, including offences of indecent assault, voyeurism and unlawful recording or observation of intimate parts under the Crimes Ordinance, accounted for about seven per cent to 21 per cent of all offences occurred on public transport. Please refer to the Annex for details. For the first five months of 2025, the Police received a total of 141 relevant reports, which accounted for about 14 per cent of the total number of offences occurred on public transport/interchanges/transport stations.

The Government maintains neither a breakdown on the number of convictions of the above sexual offences by place of occurrence nor relevant statistics on the time taken by courts to adjudicate such cases.

(2) As to whether women-only or men-only zones or compartments shall be introduced on various mass public transport modes (such as MTR and franchised buses), a number of considerations are relevant. The public transport system in Hong Kong carries a total patronage of more than 11 million passenger trips daily, with the MTR and franchised buses being the main travelling means handling over 5 million and 3.7 million passenger trips per day respectively.

The MTR is one of the railway systems with the most frequent services in the world. In 2024, the heavy rail and light rail operated over 2.71 million trips, with train services reaching about one train in every two minutes during peak hours.

The MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) has made reference to some overseas experience but assessed that it would not be appropriate to introduce women-only or men-only compartments in the MTR network. At present, during peak hours, the MTR system is generally crowded at platforms (especially at interchange stations), and the MTRCL has to make good use of the space on platform as well as inside train compartment to ease the passenger flow. Introducing dedicated train compartments would affect the management of passenger flow at stations and platforms, as well as the flow of passengers between train compartments. In addition, most of the MTR train compartments are of open design and it is operationally difficult to control passengers to follow the arrangement. Therefore, the MTRCL has no plan at this stage to introduce dedicated train compartments.

To prevent crimes of indecent assaults in the railway premises, the MTRCL has put up posters at stations to step up the promotion of anti-crime messages on indecent assaults. Passengers are encouraged not to remain silent, and report incidents or crimes of indecent assaults immediately to the Police or station staff.  The MTR station staff are properly trained to assist the Police in combating crimes.  In addition, the MTRCL and the Police hold regular anti-crime meetings to share information about the latest crime trend and intelligence, and to deliberate on specific strategies to combat crimes. The MTRCL also organises publicity activities in collaboration with the Police (including regular anti-crime publicity activities organised annually) so as to raise passengers’ anti-crime awareness.

In respect of franchised buses, many routes have high occupancy rates during peak hours. As there is limited space in the compartments and passengers board and alight in the same aisle, setting up dedicated areas inside the compartments will affect the passenger-carrying efficiency of buses. In addition, it will be operationally difficult to ensure that passengers follow the arrangements. Franchised bus companies will co-operate with the police to enhance efforts in combating crimes.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

     Following is a question by Professor the Hon Priscilla Leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):

Question:

     According to the data provided by the Government in its reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in June this year, the Police recorded a total of 1 534 cases of online investment scams involving an amount of about $1.02 billion in the first four months of this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has launched anti-scam publicity and education programmes targeting three common investment scam scenarios, whether the Government has formulated specific measures to support SFC’s anti-scam publicity programmes, so as to raise public vigilance against investment scams; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether it has plans to strengthen its co-operation with the SFC to update and enhance investor education, so as to ensure that investors can effectively identify and guard against emerging investment risks as well as evolving fraudulent practices and technologies; and

(3) whether it has devised further strategies or allocated additional resources to extend the impact of the “Don’t be Sucker” anti-scam publicity campaign launched by the SFC, so as to enable more investors to benefit from the campaign and avoid becoming victims of online investment scams; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Government attaches great importance to investor education, and is committed to supporting the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and its subsidiary, the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC), in enhancing the financial literacy of the public through various means and channels. In consultation with the Security Bureau, the SFC and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), my reply to the various parts of the question is as follows.

(1) and (2) In the first five months of 2025, there were 1 849 cases of online investment scams recorded by the Police, involving about $1.24 billion. The Government accords high priority to investor protection, and strives to combat online investment scams through two main directions, namely promotion and enforcement.

     On promotion, the Government, together with the SFC and the IFEC, has been striving to enhance investors’ anti-financial scam capabilities, raise the public’s knowledge in relevant financial products, and remind investors of the risks associated with digital finance.

     In March 2025, the IFEC in collaboration with various stakeholders organised the “Hong Kong Money Month” with the theme of “Guard against Fraud Thrive with Resilience” to comprehensively promote anti-scam messages by publicising anti-scam information targeting different segments of the community through cross-media promotion. The promotion videos recorded a total of 20.6 million views during the promotion period. In the face of ever-changing technology and evolving fraud tactics, the IFEC has also introduced various anti-financial scam education resources, animated videos, online seminars, etc to educate the public on safeguarding against investment scams including “ramp and dump” schemes, social media investment groups, fraudulent trading apps or investment platforms, impersonation scams, deepfake technology and phishing messages, etc. The IFEC website also features fraud prevention online games and an anti-scam online quiz, enabling the public to gain anti-scam knowledge through engaging and interactive games.

     The IFEC launched Hong Kong’s first digital financial education experiential learning centre, the IFEC FinEd Hub, in March 2024 to offer investment and anti-scam education to a wider audience through immersive and interactive learning experiences. The FinEd Hub features various interactive anti-scam games for visitors to learn how to identify and respond to various financial scams. As of end-June 2025, the FinEd Hub has recorded over 26 500 visits, with the vast majority of visitors indicating that their visit had enhanced their anti-scam knowledge.

     On the other hand, the HKMA has introduced “Money Safe” with banks to provide an extra layer of security to customers’ bank deposits. “Money Safe” enables customers to segregate a portion of their deposits maintained at banks, protecting them from fund outflows through online and other channels. When releasing the protected deposits, customers would need to undertake extra verification process by staff at bank branches. All retail banks will fully implement “Money Safe” by the end of this year.

     As regards enforcement actions against online investment scams, given that most fraud cases in Hong Kong currently involve the use of stooge accounts for receiving funds, targeting such accounts is an effective way to disrupt the fraud value chain. In the first five months of 2025, the Police arrested a total of 3 028 persons in connection with various fraud and money laundering offences, about 70 per cent of whom were holders of stooge accounts. Since the end of 2023, the Police have also applied to the courts to invoke section 27 of the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 455) to seek enhanced penalties for cases involving stooge accounts, so as to strengthen deterrence. There have been cases where convicted stooge account holders received sentences increased by more than 30 per cent.

     The Hong Kong Police Force, together with the police authorities of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand, has also conducted the first joint operation under the anti-fraud cross-boundary co-operation platform “FRONTIER+” to jointly combat cross-boundary fraud criminal activity. The operation successfully identified and dismantled multiple cross-boundary fraud syndicates, resulting in the arrest of 1 858 persons and involving 9 268 fraud cases, including investment fraud. In addition, noting the increase in online investment scams at the beginning of 2025, the Hong Kong Police have, over the past few months, held press conferences from time to time and stepped up publicity through various channels to remind the public to remain vigilant.

(3) The SFC launched a new anti-scam campaign “Don’t be Sucker” in December 2024 to caution the public against common tactics used in fraudulent schemes. An original cartoon character “Shui Yu”, symbolising an impulsive and gullible personality that easily fall prey to investment scams, debuted in the campaign.

     Complementing the SFC’s focused promotion of three common scams that the public should avoid (namely online romance scams, impersonation, and deceptive tips from financial influencers), the SFC has rolled out an original campaign theme song and a music video featuring “Shui Yu”, which has recorded over one million views within about three months since its launch. As of end-June 2025, the SFC has published about 50 posts on the social media platform of “Shui Yu”, which has attracted more than 1 500 followers and over 423 000 views by unique users.

     To further promote anti-scam messages through “Shui Yu”, the SFC has produced “Shui Yu”-themed messaging app stickers to spread anti-scam messages in a light-hearted way. Apart from various online and offline advertisements, the SFC extended the “Don’t be Sucker” anti-scam publicity campaign through MTR station commercials and a TV infotainment programme in May to June 2025, garnering more than 1.6 million views in estimate.

     In fact, the Government has been proactively enhancing public awareness of various kinds of scams. The Police have set up the Anti-Deception Coordination Centre since July 2017 to consolidate the efforts of the Police in combating and preventing scams, and have introduced various initiatives including the 24-hour enquiry hotline “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222”, and the “Upstream Scam Intervention” scheme to actively identify potential scam victims.

     In addition, the Police have introduced an anti-scam mascot “The Little Grape” since June 2020 to explain the latest tactics of scammers and disseminate simple anti-scam messages in a friendly and interactive manner. Various “The Little Grape” anti-scam promotional campaigns have also been organised over the past five years. Thanks to these initiatives and the collective efforts of the community, the annual growth rate of scam cases has significantly decelerated from nearly 90 per cent in 2020 to 11.7 per cent last year, indicating a rise in public awareness of scam prevention.

     Going forward, the Government will continue to support relevant organisations and stakeholders in collaboratively launching targeted promotion activities to raise the anti-scam awareness of the public.