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    Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kam-lam and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (June 8):

Question:

    It has been Government's policy to encourage the public to renew their documents prior to the expiry dates to avoid crowding and inconvenience, and people who are late in renewing their documents are required to pay a surcharge as punishment. However, the renewal arrangements of certain documents have disguisedly shortened the valid periods of the renewed documents issued to those who complete the renewal procedures in advance. For example, the effective date of a renewed Closed Road Permit falls on the date of completion of the renewal procedures instead of the day following the expiry date of the old permit. On the other hand, after the implementation of the new arrangement for renewal of Closed Road Permits for cross-boundary vehicles by the Government last year, the completion of the procedure for permit renewal, which used to take four working days, has been shortened to the day of application. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the types of renewed permits or licences issued by the Transport Department, which become effective on the dates of completion of the renewal procedures;

(b)  whether it has assessed if the above effective date arrangement for document renewal is reasonable; if the assessment results reveal that the arrangement is unreasonable, whether the authorities will consider reviewing the existing administrative mechanism for applications and charges for permits, so as to dispense with the arrangement; if they will, of the details; if they will not, the reasons for that; and

(c)  of the types of renewed permits and licences issued by the Transport Department which are not issued on the day of application and the major reasons for that; the time currently taken to issue these permits and licences and whether the authorities will consider reviewing and simplifying the relevant procedures; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply

Madam president,

    Of the 25 types of licences and permits issued by the Transport Department (TD), nine are not issued on a continual basis.  Holders normally do not have a need to renew these licences and permits. As regards the remaining 16 types of licences and permits which require renewal, some of them have legislative provisions stipulating that their validity shall commence from the date on which these permits are issued. They are the Closed Road Permits, Expressway Permits, Bus Lane Permits, Prohibited Zone Permits and Restricted Zone Permits. The relevant legislative provisions require these permits to take effect from the date of issue instead of the date of expiry of the existing permit, and stipulate that the validity period should not be more than 12 months.  As such, if a person applies for renewal before the expiry of the current permit, the renewed permit may expire earlier than the case where he applies for renewal after the expiry of the current permit. We agree that this is not satisfactory and will review the arrangements.

    There are five types of licences and permits which TD cannot issue on the day of application for renewal. The main reason is that TD needs to consult other relevant departments in considering the applications, e.g. Hong Kong Police Force, the Home Affairs Department and the Highways Department, etc. The processing time depends on the number of departments to be consulted and the issues to be considered. Most of the renewed licences and permits will be issued within two to 14 days. TD will review from time to time the arrangements for issuing different licences and permits with a view to streamlining the procedures and shortening the processing time.

Ends/Wednesday, June 8, 2005

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