HK’s labor and welfare chief defends $2 fare scheme tweaks

Hong Kong's Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Chris Sun Yuk-han, has defended the government's decision to modify the HK$2 elderly transport subsidy, adding there is no plan to introduce differential treatment between people aged 60 to 64 and those 65 or older.

Sun made the comments on a radio program on Saturday after the government announced in the latest Budget that there would be a cap of 240 trips per month for the HK$2 scheme. 

After that, while the flat rate of HK$2 remains for rides costing HK$10 or less, the government will only shoulder 80 percent of the cost if the standard fare exceeds HK$10.

Sun said this morning that authorities received suggestions that the HK$2 scheme should have more restrictions imposed on those aged 60 to 64 while keeping the original HK$2 fare scheme for those 65 and above, an idea rejected by the administration.

"We previously lowered the eligibility age to 60, so we should treat everyone equally," he said, adding it will be difficult for people to understand should there be different rules.

He assured the public that the new ride cap of 240 trips per month would have little impact, as only around 360 people - just 0.0001 percent of the 2.5 million beneficiaries - exceed this threshold.

He also noted that 75 percent of eligible passengers typically take trips costing under HK$10, meaning they will continue to enjoy the HK$2 fare.

Meanwhile, the labor and welfare chief addressed concerns about the technical implementation of these changes, especially when all 17,000 Octopus card readers in the SAR only allowed users to check the last 40 transactions and the remaining value.

"I think it's important for them to check whenever they want to check it - how many trips are remaining for that month. Right now, for the Octopus card they are holding, this is not a function with it. So we have to create that function for them to check it out," he told reporters.

"And also, they have to go to... most likely one of the machines installed in most of the MTR stations where they can check their balance and also the recent transactions. So through that, what we call 'an Octopus card checker', when they just tap the card, they can check how many trips are still remaining for that month."

Sun added that once the system updates are completed, an extensive promotional campaign will be launched to have the information get across to all senior citizens.