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Following is a question by the Hon Bernard Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Trade and Industry, Mr CHAU Tak Hay, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday) :

Question :

Will the Government inform this Council of:

(a) the number of complaints about unscrupulous business practices received by the Consumer Council and a breakdown of such complaints by their type of trade; and

(b) the number of cases brought to the court involving tourists as victims and, among them, the number of tourists who returned to Hong Kong subsequently to testify in court,in the past 12 months?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) From January to December 1999, a total of 1 168 complaint cases about unscrupulous business practices were received by the Consumer Council. A breakdown of these complaints by their type of trade is at the Annex.

(b) Of these complaints, 363 cases involved tourists as victims. However, the Consumer Council does not keep statistics on the number of such cases brought to the court and the number of tourists returning to Hong Kong subsequently to testify in court.

In general, the Consumer Council accords priority to complaints lodged by tourists so that the cases can be resolved before these tourists' departure from Hong Kong. In addition, the Small Claims Tribunal has arranged for cases involving tourists to be handled within 24 hours (on weekdays). The Police and the Customs will also handle complaints lodged by tourists expeditiously. For cases which cannot be settled before the departure of the tourists concerned, the Police and Customs will maintain contact with the complainants in writing until the cases are concluded.

Annex

Complaints about unscrupulous business practices in 1999

Nature of Complaints                   Number of Complaints



Ginseng and dried seafood shops        300

Modelling agencies                        112

Time sharing                                 62

Electrical appliances                    236

Photographic equipment                   325

Telecommunications services             100

Further education services                33



Total                                      1 168

End/Wednesday, January 12, 2000

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