The Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department (HAD) conducted a joint operation with the Fire Services Department codenamed "Rolling Thunder" against unlicensed hotels/guesthouses and illegal club-house operations for the past three consecutive days from June 27 to 29 by posing as clients (commonly known as "snaking") at various spots so as to ensure the safety of lodgers as well as the general public.
A spokesman for the HAD today (June 30) said, "The OLA inspected about 50 premises in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon during the operation. Twenty-four premises were suspected of operating unlicensed hotels/guesthouses and three licensed club-houses were suspected of being in breach of licensing conditions. The OLA will follow up all these cases and initiate prosecution of cases with sufficient evidence after completion of the investigations."
Having regard to unlicensed hotels/guesthouses soliciting lodgers via online platforms, the OLA has strengthened its intelligence collection by forming a dedicated team to browse web pages, mobile applications, social media, discussion fora, blogs, etc, to search for information and intelligence on suspected unlicensed hotels/guesthouses. The OLA's law enforcement officers will initiate follow-up investigations when information on unlicensed hotels/guesthouses advertised via online platforms is found. The OLA also continues to combat unlicensed hotels/guesthouses through public education and conducts publicity work on Internet search engines outside Hong Kong to enable tourists' access to the information provided by the OLA in the course of planning their trips, so that they can make use of the search functions on the OLA's website to distinguish whether the hotel/guesthouse reserved is licensed or not.
The spokesman stressed, "Operating an unlicensed hotel/guesthouse is a criminal offence and it can lead to imprisonment as well as a criminal record. Upon conviction, an offender is liable to a maximum fine of $500,000, three years' imprisonment and a fine of $20,000 for each day during which the offence continues. A six-month closure order may also be issued for the premises involved in a repeated offence."
Tourists and members of the public should report any suspected unlicensed hotel/guesthouse to the OLA by the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805), or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".
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