LCQ10: Digitalisation of JoyYou Card
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Question:
The Government has implemented the JoyYou Card arrangement in phases since 2022, and with effect from August 25, 2024, has required that eligible Hong Kong residents aged 60 or above must use the JoyYou Card to enjoy the $2 concessionary fare. However, as the JoyYou Card is currently only available in physical form, it is learnt that many members of the public who are accustomed to using Mobile Octopus for mobile payment are unable, upon becoming eligible for the concession, to integrate their Personalised Octopus on their mobile phone into an electronic version of the JoyYou Card. Instead, they can only transfer the concession and services from their Octopus card to a physical JoyYou Card, causing inconvenience to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the total number of JoyYou Card applications received by the Octopus Cards Limited (OCL) as at February 2026, and among them, the respective numbers of applicants in the age groups of 60 to 64 and 65 or above;
(2) whether it has assessed the respective numbers of persons who will be eligible to apply for the JoyYou Card in each of the next five years; whether it has compiled statistics on or estimated the number of such eligible persons who currently use or will use the Personalised Octopus on mobile phones;
(3) whether it knows the number of current JoyYou Card holders who had long been using Mobile Octopus (the mobile payment version) prior to applying for the JoyYou Card; whether it has assessed the impact on such elderly persons, who are accustomed to digital payments, of only being able to use the physical JoyYou Card;
(4) given that OCL has launched student and adult versions of Mobile Octopus, whether it knows if OCL will (i) conduct technical studies on the digitalisation of the JoyYou Card (i.e. integrating the functions of the JoyYou Card into mobile wallets); if OCL will, of the progress of such studies; (ii) introduce an electronic version of the JoyYou Card; if OCL will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5) if the JoyYou Card is digitalised or an electronic version is made available, how the authorities will collaborate with various public transport operators on ticket inspection to enable their staff to verify users' identities, so as to ensure that the current "$2 flat rate or 80 per cent off" concessionary fare is not abused?
Reply:
President,
Starting from August 25, 2024, the Government has fully implemented a real-name registration system under the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities ($2 Scheme), under which Hong Kong residents aged 60 or above must use a JoyYou Card, while eligible persons with disabilities aged below 60 must use a Personalised Octopus card encoded with "Persons with Disabilities Status", in order to enjoy the concession under the $2 Scheme. The real-name registration system helps strengthen monitoring and provide evidence for combating abuse of the $2 Scheme. The reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Nixie Lam is set out below.
(1) to (3) As at the end of February 2026, about 2.68 million applications for the JoyYou Card had been received, of which about 1.29 million were from applicants aged 60 to 64, and about 1.39 million were from applicants aged 65 or above.
According to the latest figures from the Census and Statistics Department, the projected numbers of Hong Kong residents who will reach the age of 60 and become eligible to apply for the JoyYou Card in the coming five years are tabulated as follows:
| The projected number of Hong Kong residents reaching the age of 60 and becoming eligible to apply for the JoyYou Card | |
| 2026 | 109 000 |
| 2027 | 111 000 |
| 2028 | 117 000 |
| 2029 | 111 000 |
| 2030 | 120 000 |
The Government does not have information on the number of the above-mentioned Hong Kong residents using mobile Octopus, or the number of JoyYou Card holders who had been long-term users of mobile Octopus before applying for the card.
(4) and (5) The Government has all along been closely monitoring the beneficiaries' demand for digital services under the $2 Scheme, and has been maintaining communication with the Octopus Cards Limited and various public transport operators to explore the feasibility of developing a mobile JoyYou Card.
A mobile JoyYou Card must meet a range of requirements, including the provision of reliable and effective anti-counterfeiting and identity verification functions, so that law enforcement officers and frontline staff of public transport operators can quickly verify passengers' identities when necessary and prevent abuse. In addition, the mobile JoyYou Card must also be user-friendly for the elderly and eligible persons with disabilities, while also meeting the operational needs of public transport operators.
The Government will continue to work with relevant parties to explore the development of a mobile JoyYou Card, while carefully examining various issues including law enforcement, technical specifications and system requirements, with a view to striking an appropriate balance between facilitating beneficiaries and preventing abuse.
Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:43
Issued at HKT 11:43
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