The Transport Department (TD) said today (June 17) that over $1.2 billion of the subsidy under the two rounds of the Anti-epidemic Fund has been disbursed to the transport trades, and the subsidy to taxi or red minibus (RMB) drivers under the second round of the Fund is open for application starting from today until September 30.
  
     Under the Fund, the government provides a monthly subsidy of $6,000 for each eligible active taxi or RMB driver for a period of 6 months, from April 1 to September 30, 2020. In response to the trade's views that some of the taxi and RMB drivers have not yet renewed their driver identity plates in time, the TD decided to make appropriate relaxations on the eligibility requirements. In addition to the drivers who hold a valid taxi or public light bus (PLB) driver identity plate during the period between January 1 and March 31, 2020, the drivers who hold an old driver identity plate and have already renewed their taxi or PLB driver identity plate during the period between April 1 and May 7, 2020, are considered eligible for applying the subsidy. 
 
     The drivers are also required to provide valid rental agreement or declarations during the period between January 1 and March 31, 2020, and the period between April 1 and September 30, 2020. If they cannot provide the valid rental agreement or declarations during the period between April and September 2020, they can choose to apply for a one-off subsidy of $7,500. For the eligibility requirements and details, please visit the TD's website (www.td.gov.hk).
 
     The TD issued letters to taxi and PLB trade organisations today to inform them of the eligibility requirements and application arrangements. Eligible taxi and RMB drivers must submit application via the GovHK portal (https://eform.one.gov.hk/form/td0015/en/). The subsidy can be disbursed to the designated local bank account provided in the application within one month upon receipt of the applications and completion of the checking. The first payment is expected to be disbursed by end of this month.
 
     For details on the subsidies for transport trades under the Fund, please visit the TD's website.

Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Issued at HKT 9:57

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