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A woman and a man were fined $10,000 and $15,000 respectively at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (May 6) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected two suspected unlicensed guesthouses in Jordan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui and Mong Kok Road in Mong Kok in October last year. OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented rooms in these two guesthouses on a daily basis.
According to the OLA's records, these guesthouses did not possess licences under the Ordinance on the days of inspection. Therefore, the woman and the man responsible for operating or managing these premises respectively were charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.
He appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website, or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
Ends/Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:16
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