Govt proposes new licensing scheme for claw and pinball machines

The government is planning to regulate prize-awarding games, including popular claw and pinball machines, by proposing amendments to the Gambling Ordinance that would require individual game devices to be licensed.

In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau highlighted an "unsatisfactory" regulatory loophole. Currently, claw machine arcades do not qualify for a "Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance" under the existing ordinance. This, in turn, prevents them from obtaining an Amusements with Prizes Licence (AWPL), leaving them in a legal grey area.

To address this, the bureau recommends a significant change: decoupling the two licenses. Instead of requiring a venue to first have a Public Entertainment Place Licence, the new proposal would allow the Office of the Licensing Authority to issue AWPL directly to individual game machines.

The government also suggested strengthening regulatory measures. Under the plan, licensees would be required to post notices in a prominent location at the entrance, and the bureau is considering mandating the inclusion of warnings about addiction.

Furthermore, the bureau noted that the relevant license fees have not been adjusted since the year 2000. It will study the possibility of increasing these fees based on the cost-recovery principle.

 

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