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A woman and a man were fined $8,000 and $10,000 respectively at Eastern Magistrates' Courts today (June 30) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses on King's Road in North Point and Paterson Street in Causeway Bay in January and February this year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in the guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, the guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the woman and the man responsible for managing the premises were 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, an offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.
He appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website, or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
Ends/Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:31
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