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A man and a woman were fined $5,600 and $8,000 respectively at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (April 22) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that in October last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a licensed guesthouse in Paterson Street, Causeway Bay. OLA officers found that the actual layout of the premises had deviated from the registered drawing and the alteration had not been approved by the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Authority. Conditions 3 and 17 of the licence were breached. Therefore, the male licence holder was charged with contravening section 21(4) of the Ordinance.
Furthermore, OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in a guesthouse on King's Road, North Point, on a daily basis in the same month. According to the OLA's records, the guesthouse did not possess a licence under the Ordinance on the day of inspection. The female manager of the guesthouse was charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.
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 by fax (fax number: 2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the website (www.hadla.gov.hk).
Ends/Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Issued at HKT 18:20
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