Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation (MTRC) has seen a sharp drop in abuse cases since the government implemented a real-name registration scheme for the HK$2 elderly public transport discount last year.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said in a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday that public transport operators had stepped up ticket inspections after the registration scheme came into effect.
The MTRC reported 280 abuse cases between late August and April – an average of eight cases per week. In contrast, the railway company saw an average of 158 cases per week between June and August last year, before the scheme was enacted.
The government implemented a real-name registration scheme for the JoyYou card, a type of Octopus card that offers discounted HK$2 public transport fares for residents aged 60 and above, in August.
The HK$2 fares apply to most public transport, including the MTR, buses, and ferries.
Under the real-name registration scheme, all JoyYou cards are linked to the holder’s identity card. Before that, people could purchase “anonymous” elderly Octopus cards, which have since been invalidated.
The scheme aims to tackle abuse, as in when a non-eligible person uses an elderly Octopus card to enjoy HK$2 fares.
Sun said that among the 280 cases reported, the MTR Corporation sought police involvement for 14 of them.
Police made five arrests, and the remaining nine were investigated for breaching MTR bylaws, as police could not identify arrestable offences, Sun said.
In one of the five cases, the person involved was convicted of theft and fined HK$400. In another case, a person was prosecuted and is undergoing legal proceedings, while two other cases are still under investigation.
The fifth case was referred back to the MTRC as police found no arrestable offence after investigation.
