A man was fined $2,000 at the Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts today (December 21) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
The courts heard that in March this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), the Home Affairs Department, inspected a licensed guesthouse on Hong Lok Road in Yuen Long. During the inspection, the OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in an unlicensed guesthouse in the same building on a daily basis.
The man responsible for managing the premises was charged with contravening section 21(3)(b) of the Ordinance for managing a guesthouse in a premises other than the one indicated in the licence.
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.
The spokesman 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 (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
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