LCQ4: Direct issue of full Hong Kong driving licence
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Question:
It has been reported that "queuing gangs" have recently appeared outside the Hong Kong Licensing Office of the Transport Department (TD), specifically lining up for queue tickets to apply for the direct issue of a full Hong Kong driving licence (directly-issued licence) with the intent to profit. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the TD has cancelled on-site ticketing from the 8th of this month and plans to introduce an online appointment booking service in March to address the issue of queuing gangs, of the measures the Government has put in place to guard against "cyber queuing gangs" snatching online queue tickets and appointment quotas through improper means such as plug-in programmes;
(2) as it is learnt that the number of directly-issued licences has increased more than threefold in the past four years, whether the Government will consider conducting statistical and demand analyses on the relevant application and issuance data, such as compiling statistical breakdowns by visitor arrivals or persons admitted in Hong Kong under talent admission schemes, so as to enhance the measures in the light of demand; and
(3) as it has been reported that crimes of deception involving the use of false instruments to obtain directly-issued licences occur from time to time, undermining public confidence in road safety, how the Government will strengthen cooperation with the issuing authorities in places where driving licence qualifications are mutually recognised and improve the verification and approval mechanisms, so as to guard against cyber fraudsters and protect the safety of road users?
Reply:
President,
The Transport Department (TD) implements direct issue of Hong Kong full driving licence ("direct issue") in accordance with the Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap. 374B) (the Regulations), which allows a person holding a driving licence issued by one of the 32 places specified in the Fourth Schedule to the Regulations to be directly issued with a Hong Kong full driving licence for driving private cars, light goods vehicles, motor cycles and/or motor tricycles. Mutual recognition of driving qualifications and "direct issue" are common practices in many places, and have also been implemented in Hong Kong for many years to ensure road safety as well as providing facilitation for citizens in different places by saving their resources and time of taking tests for obtaining local driving licences.
In consultation with the TD and the Digital Policy Office (DPO), my reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Carmen Kan is as follows:
(1) The supporting documents for "direct issue" applications involve information issued by other places. To ensure that the applicants meet the legal requirements, they are required to present the original of documents, including driving licences and travel documents, for verifying the authenticity of the documents by staff of TD's Licensing Office. Since March 2021, the TD has implemented online appointment for "direct issue" counter services. Applicants may make appointments in advance apart from queuing for same-day queue tickets.
In response to abuse of the same-day queue ticket mechanism for a period recently, the TD has, with the assistance of the DPO, implemented the "Online Same-day Queue Ticket" arrangement starting from January 12 this year to enhance order management at the Licensing Office. In parallel, the on-site ticketing arrangement was ceased with immediate effect. The service has been integrated with various measures on security and online traffic management, including a human-machine verification mechanism and a virtual queue management solution. Such measures are can effectively detect and block automated programmes from snapping up tickets while regulating traffic as appropriate, thereby ensuring smooth registration process. Specifically, should the number of applicants exceed the daily quota, applicants who are already in the system queue when the distribution of tickets begins will be subject to a random draw to enhance fairness. Applicants for online tickets must provide personal identifiable information, and successful ticket holders must present relevant document at the Licensing Office on the same day to process the applications and are prohibited from transferring the online ticket to others. The system has been operating smoothly since its launch and applicants' use of counter services has been in good order and efficiency.
To prepare for the full implementation of online appointment for counter services, the TD has been working at full steam over the past few months for the preparatory work of system enhancement. The work is currently in the final phase, which involves introducing measures to ensure system stability and reduce the chance of improper use of services. Such measures include enhancing the virtual queuing system, verifying applicants' identities with "iAM Smart" and AI, and using one-time passwords for authentication. We strive to fully implement the online appointment booking services as soon as possible.
The TD and the DPO will continue to monitor the system running and will optimise the protective settings, system capacity and so on to ensure smooth and stable operation of the system as well as fairness, thereby safeguarding the rights of the public in using the services.
(2) Over the past five years, the number of "direct issue" applications has increased more than twofold to about 84 500 per year. Among the applications received, about 90 per cent were submitted by holders of Mainland driving licences while some 10 per cent by holders of driving licences from other places, both on a rising trend. The TD aims at enhancing efficiency and expanding capacity while serving all applicants in a fair and stable manner. Apart from the above-mentioned measures to enhance the application procedure, the TD would, in response to the increasing demand for "direct issue" applications, adopt multi-pronged initiatives which include extending the counter services to all of the four Licensing Offices and increasing the appointment quotas by about 40 per cent to 550 per day upon the full launch of online appointment. Moreover, the new appointment system will, with the aid of AI technologies, conduct preliminary vetting of the information submitted by applicants. Appointments with inconsistent information will be cancelled, and the quotas be released, thereby increasing the efficiency of system operation.
Meanwhile, the TD is also actively exploring the use of AI technologies in "direct issue" application procedures, so that applicants will be able to upload application documents to the new online platform for preliminary vetting, and then visit the Licensing Office at their booked time slot with their original documents for verification. This will better ensure a smooth and efficient application process.
(3) The TD has all along been rigorously processing and verifying each "direct issue" application. In case of doubts about any supporting documents, the TD will carefully follow up and verify, including approaching the relevant consulates or transport authorities in the issuing places for verification, so as to ascertain the authenticity of the documents. The TD will also refuse to approve applications that do not fully meet the eligibility. Taking Mainland driving licences as an example, the TD has set up a regular mechanism with the vehicle administration offices in the Mainland to conduct checks on doubtful driving licences.
The TD will continue to exercise stringent gate-keeping. Should any doubtful cases be detected, the TD will refer them to law enforcement agencies for follow-up actions.
With TD's future adoption of AI technologies for assisting in the preliminary vetting of documents in relation to "direct issue" applications, the staff will be more efficiently supported in following up cases with abnormal application information.
Thank you, President.
Ends/Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:45
Issued at HKT 14:45
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