The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, today (April 3) said that consumption vouchers under Phase I of the 2022 Consumption Voucher Scheme (CVS) will be disbursed to about 6.3 million eligible persons on April 7.
He said that all people who successfully registered under the CVS last year will receive the new round of vouchers on April 7 (Note 1). They will successively receive relevant SMS notifications or mobile app push notifications on that day.
People using accounts of AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK for receiving voucher will be disbursed with a $5,000 voucher with the expiry date of October 31 on the disbursement day.
Vouchers collected via Octopus will be disbursed by two instalments. People may start to collect the first $4,000 voucher by tapping the card on that day. They may collect the vouchers at the Subsidy Collection Points of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, designated convenience stores and supermarkets, Octopus Service Points or via Octopus mobile app. In view of the current stored value limit of Octopus card, people are not able to collect more than $3,000 voucher value when tapping their cards for the first time and the remaining value can be collected by tapping the card again after the stored value of the Octopus card is lowered. In other words, the $4,000 voucher can be fully collected by tapping the card several times.
Similar to the arrangement of the CVS last year, when people using Octopus Card for local consumption, those consumption falling within the usage scope of the consumption vouchers will automatically be counted towards the total "eligible spending. If people's cumulative total "eligible spending" has reached $4,000 between May to October, the last $1,000 voucher will be disbursed on the 16th day of the following month. In other words, if the "eligible spending" has reached $4,000 by end May, people will receive the last $1,000 voucher on June 16 at the earliest. The "eligible spending" has to reach the target by end October the latest in order to collect the last voucher by tapping the card on November 16.
The Government reminded the public that as the epidemic situation is still severe, they should strictly comply with the anti-epidemic measures during consumption. As the vouchers are valid for seven months with the expiry date of October 31, there is no urgency to go out for spending. For people receiving vouchers through Octopus, there is no need to rush for collection on the first few days after disbursement at the above locations, and they may use the Octopus mobile app to collect the vouchers as far as possible.
For eligible persons whose SVF accounts registered under the CVS last year have become invalid but have not yet updated their registration record, they may still submit their amendment applications through the following channels, using another account of the same SVF to register for collecting the voucher (Note 2):
1) Download the "Application Form for Amendment of Stored Value Facility Account" from the CVS website (www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk) or call the hotline 18 5000 to obtain the form by post, email or fax, and send the completed form together with a copy of the Hong Kong identity card to the "Consumption Voucher Scheme Secretariat at PO Box 185000, General Post Office, Hong Kong". It is not necessary to affix stamps on the envelope if posted locally (the Government will bear the postage).
2) For Octopus users, they may do the above amendment through the link provided in the CVS website. JoyYou cardholders who need to make the above amendment may call the Octopus hotline 2969 5500 for making amendment.
The Government also reminded people using Octopus for receiving vouchers to keep safe custody of their cards in order to avoid loss or inconvenience due to loss of the cards.
The public may browse the apps and websites or call the following hotlines of the relevant SVF operators to enquire about how to use the vouchers, the value of the vouchers disbursed, unspent/uncollected voucher balance, expiry dates, etc.
– AlipayHK: 2245 3201
– Octopus: 2969 5500
– Tap & Go: 2888 0000
– WeChat Pay HK: 3929 1666
Note 1:
Save in exceptional circumstances such as the stored value facility (SVF) account registered under the 2021 CVS has become invalid but has not yet been successfully updated, the registrant has passed away, etc.
Note 2:
The same SVF account cannot be registered by more than one registrant for receiving consumption vouchers.
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