Review of Penalty Level for Illegal Carriage of Passengers for Hire or Reward

Under the name of sharing economy and technology in the recent years, the problem of illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward (commonly known as “white cars”) has become more and more prevalent. In this regard, the LegCo's Panel on Transport has reviewed the penalty level for illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward. I wrote to the Government and reflected that I do not support criminal acts in the name of science and technology, especially the pick-up and drop-off of passengers by “white cars” at tourist spots such as the airport. The operation of “white cars”, while being unfair to legally operated vehicles and taxis, also harms Hong Kong's image as an international city of tourism. As the court's previous conviction rate and penalties were relatively low, I asked the Government to increase the penalties so as to achieve a deterrent effect.

 

2019/2/19 ‧ Received a petition letter from the transportation industry. As legal and safe transportation services are very important for the development of the tourism industry, I support reviewing the penalties for "white cars".

 

Unlicensed Travel Agents

2018/10/10 ‧ Met with Mr. Brendan Au (right), the then Registrar of Travel Agents, and Mr. Frankie Ng (middle), Deputy Registrar of Travel Agents, to follow up on the investigation progress of suspected cases of unlicensed travel agencies. Meanwhile, we also exchanged views with the Registry on the prolonged length of time required for individual travel agencies to apply for licences.

 

 

Issues of Study Tours

The Outbound Committee of TIC had a discussion on the study tours in September 2018. Through my own connection, I met Mr. Kevin Yeung, Secretary for Education on 15 November 2018 and exchanged opinions on areas such as the tendering mechanism, funding methods, and "Guidelines on Study Tours Outside Hong Kong" of the study tours organized by the Education Bureau.

The Outbound Committee later set up a "Task Force on Study Tours" in March 2019 to collect opinions from members of the Task Force on the tendering arrangements for exchange plans organized by the Education Bureau. I also personally called the Principal Inspector of the Education Bureau to reflect our members' views and suggestions.