Following is a question by the Hon Lee Chun-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 22):

Question:

     It has been reported that as at late September this year, the Police have conducted 95 enforcement actions against vehicles without a valid hire car permit being used for illegal carriage of passengers for reward (commonly known as white licence cars). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) among the aforesaid 95 enforcement actions, (i) of the number of persons convicted by the court and the respective penalties (including fine amounts and whether the drivers involved were suspended from driving), and (ii) the number of subject vehicles which were detained and their respective detention periods;

(2) whether the Department of Justice has lodged appeals against any of the aforesaid cases in which the penalties were considered relatively low; if so, of the number of such appeal cases and their outcomes; if not, the reasons for that;

(3) whether, following the increase in penalties for offences relating to white licence cars under the Road Traffic Legislation (Enhancing Personalized Point-to-point Transport Services) (Amendment) Ordinance 2023, which came into operation in December 2023, the Government has compiled statistics on and compared the penalties imposed by the court for such offences before and after the commencement of the Ordinance (set out in a table); and

(4) as the Government expects that, after the passage of the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-hailing Service) Bill 2025, the first batch of licensed ride-hailing platforms will only commence operation in the fourth quarter of 2026 at the earliest, of the plans of the law enforcement agencies to step up efforts to combat white licence cars in the coming year when licensed ride-hailing platforms are not yet available?

Reply:
 
President,

     In consultation with the Department of Justice (DoJ), the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Transport Department (TD), a consolidated reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Lee Chun-keung is provided as follows:

(1) and (2) The Government is determined to combat illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward with a view to safeguarding the safety and interests of the public. To this end, enforcement efforts have been strengthened in recent years. The HKPF has continued to take enforcement actions in various districts, where 97 cases were detected in 2025 (by September), involving the provision of illegal services of carriage of passengers for reward by vehicles through different platforms, representing a doubling of the 47 cases detected in the whole year of 2024. Of the abovementioned cases, 39 cases involving 39 drivers have been convicted by the court. Seven cases have entered judicial proceedings, while the remaining 51 cases are under investigation.

     Of the convicted cases, fines ranging from $1,200 to $6,000 were imposed on the drivers involved. Individual drivers involved in breach of condition of stay were, in addition to fines, sentenced to imprisonment ranging from two weeks to two months. Moreover, 24 drivers have been disqualified from driving for 12 to 15 months.

     According to the Prosecution Code, the DoJ may apply to the court for the review of a sentence on the basis that it has proceeded on an error of law or of principle or that it is manifestly inadequate. Whether an application for the review of a sentence will be made is based upon the facts and circumstances of each and every case. The DoJ has not made any application to the court for a review of sentences in relation to the offences of illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward.

     Under the existing Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) (the Ordinance), if a person is convicted of the offence under section 52(3) of the Ordinance (i.e. illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward), the Commissioner for Transport will, in accordance with the Ordinance, suspend the vehicle licence of the vehicle involved and instruct the vehicle owner to deliver the vehicle to the Commissioner's custody (i.e. detention as referred to in the question). The suspension period is either six months (for first conviction) or 12 months (for subsequent conviction). Of the convicted cases in 2025, 20 vehicles have been impounded or scheduled for impoundment for six months, while the remaining cases are under process.

(3) To enhance the deterrent effect of the penalties for the offences of illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward, the Government in December 2023 increased the penalties for offences relating to illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward by motor vehicles through the enactment of the Road Traffic Legislation (Enhancing Personalized Point-to-point Transport Services) (Amendment) Ordinance 2023. These included increasing the maximum fine and term of imprisonment, as well as lengthening the period of suspension of vehicle licences and impoundment of vehicles, with details as follows:

Table 1: Details of the legislative amendments made in December 2023

Penalty	Maximum penalty prior to the 2023 legislative amendments		Existing maximum penalty following the legislative amendments
	First conviction	Subsequent conviction	First conviction	Subsequent conviction
Maximum fine	$5,000 (Level 2)	$10,000 (Level 3)	$10,000 (Level 3)	$25,000 (Level 4)
Maximum term of imprisonment	Three months	Six months	Six months	12 months
Suspension of vehicle licences and impoundment of vehicles	Three months	Six months	Six months	12 months

     Since the commencement of the legislative amendments on December 22, 2023, the average amount of fines imposed and the number of cases on which imprisonment was imposed for offences relating to illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward by motor vehicles have increased, with details as follows:

Table 2: Comparison of penalties imposed before and after the legislative amendments in December 2023

Penalty	Before the legislative amendments (during 2023)	After the legislative amendments (by September 2025)
Fine	Ranging from $1,000 to $5,000	Ranging from $500 to $7,500
Imprisonment	No cases on which imprisonment was imposed	Imprisonment was imposed on five cases, the average of which was six weeks*
Suspension of vehicle licences and impoundment of vehicles	Impoundment of vehicle for three months was imposed on 29 cases	Impoundment of vehicle for six months was imposed on 58 cases

* In addition to the contravention of section 52(3) of the Ordinance, the cases also involved a contravention of section 4 of the Motor Vehicles Insurance (Third Party Risks) Ordinance (Cap. 272) and section 41 of the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115).

(4) The Government will further strengthen the penalties against illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward through the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-hailing Service) Bill 2025 (the Bill), which was just passed by the Legislative Council on October 15. The Bill specifies that convicted drivers should be disqualified from driving for not less than 12 months and not more than three years; and strengthens the arrangement for the suspension of vehicle licences and impoundment of vehicles, allowing a mechanism under which the Government may impound the vehicles involved even if the driver involved cannot be identified for the purpose of instituting criminal proceedings, thereby enhancing the deterrent effect.

     The aforementioned new provisions on enforcement will dovetail with the commencement date of other parts of the Bill and take effect when licensed ride-hailing vehicles commence service, so as to provide comprehensive protection for legally compliant point-to-point transport services and passengers.

     Meanwhile, the Government will continue to strengthen law enforcement across all districts to combat illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward. The TD will also step up its publicity efforts in reminding drivers of the relevant penalties and the need to abide by the law, while alerting passengers to the potential risks of using illegal hire car services as the third party liability insurance for the vehicle providing illegal services may become invalid in the event of a traffic accident.

Ends/Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Issued at HKT 11:55

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