The Government announced today (March 7) the arrangements for Phase I of the new round of the Consumption Voucher Scheme (the new Scheme). Over 6.3 million people who successfully registered for the Consumption Voucher Scheme launched last year will receive $5,000 vouchers through their registered stored value facility accounts. Unless the relevant account has expired or the relevant Octopus card has been lost/returned, people do not need to go through any registration or other procedures.
The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said, "I announced in 2022‑23 Budget the implementation of a new round of the Consumption Voucher Scheme to disburse to each eligible person electronic consumption vouchers with a total value of $10,000 by instalment. In order to relieve the economic burden of people due to the fifth wave of the epidemic, we will first disburse $5,000 vouchers to successful registrants of last year's Consumption Voucher Scheme under Phase I of the new Scheme. The remaining vouchers will be disbursed together with the vouchers for eligible registrants newly registered in Phase II to be implemented in the middle of the year."
People who collected the last round of vouchers via AlipayHK, Tap & Go or WeChat Pay HK will receive, through the same account in April, a $5,000 voucher with an expiry date of October 31.
The vouchers collected via Octopus will be disbursed in two instalments. The first $4,000 voucher will be disbursed together with the other three e-wallets in April. After receiving the vouchers, if the people's cumulative total "eligible spending" has reached $4,000 between May to October, a second $1,000 voucher will be disbursed on the 16th day of the following month after reaching the target (the disbursement timetable is at the Annex). People using Octopus to receive the vouchers need to collect the vouchers by tapping the card 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. The deadline for collection of the first and second vouchers are both December 31.
The usage and coverage of the consumption vouchers are the same as the arrangement for the Consumption Voucher Scheme last year. The public may visit the Consumption Voucher Scheme website (www.consumptionvoucher.gov.hk) for the relevant information.
If the stored value facility account of individual registrant has become invalid, or the Octopus card registered for receiving vouchers has been lost/returned, the person should update his/her registration record between March 7 (from 2pm) to March 25 through the following channels in order to use another account of the same stored value facility to collect the $5,000 vouchers under Phase I:
- Download the "application form for amendment of stored value facility account" from the Consumption Voucher Scheme website or call 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).
- For Octopus users, they may amend the registration record through the link provided in the Consumption Voucher Scheme website to use another Octopus card to receive the vouchers. The original Octopus card will be invalidated. JoyYou cardholders may call the Octopus hotline 2969 5500 to make the amendment.
In short, Octopus users should amend the information by post or the above website link, whereas users of AlipayHK, Tap & Go and WeChat Pay HK should make amendment by post.
The public may visit the Consumption Voucher Scheme website or call the hotline 18 5000 for enquiries about the details of Phase I of the new Scheme.
For individual persons who need assistance, they may call the hotline 18 5000 between March 7 (starting from 2pm) to March 25 to make a reservation with the following temporary service centres to make the above amendment with the assistance of their staff:
Unit 1917-1918, 19/F, Pioneer Centre, 750 Nathan Road, Mong Kok
Unit 401B, 4/F, Tin Ching Amenity and Community Building, Tin Ching Estate, Tin Shui Wai
Room 3030, 30/F, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai
The Government will announce the disbursement date of Phase I of the new Scheme as early as possible in light of the latest developments of the epidemic and the relevant arrangements.
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