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Two women, a man and a company were fined separately at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (July 11) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The court heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a licensed guesthouse on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, in October last year and found that the guesthouse was not operated under the name indicated in the licence. The female licensee was fined $1,500 for contravening section 21(3)(c) of the Ordinance.
In the second case, in December last year, an OLA officer posed as a lodger and rented a room in an unlicensed guesthouse on Mong Kok Road, Mong Kok, on a daily basis. The male manager of the guesthouse was fined $3,000 for contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
In the third case, in January this year, OLA officers inspected a licensed guesthouse on Nathan Road, Mong Kok, and posed as lodgers to rent a room in another premises in the same building. The female manager of the premises was fined $2,500 for contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance. The company, being the licence holder, was fined $3,000 for operating a guesthouse in a place other than the address indicated in the licence and charged with contravening section 21(3)(b) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that it is a criminal offence to operate or manage an unlicensed guesthouse. Any person who is convicted of operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is liable to imprisonment. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a $200,000 fine and imprisonment for two years.
He appealed to the public to report suspected illegal guesthouses to the OLA through the OLA hotline (2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk) or fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:50
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