Today (7th), the government issued the first phase of consumer vouchers in 2022 to the public through various electronic payment contractors. A number of operators have given users the full amount of HK$5,000 consumer coupons, and Octopus users can receive the first HK$4,000 consumer coupons from today, but due to the limit of stored value, the first-time payment cannot exceed HK$3,000.
▲Octopus Sales and Marketing Director Li Yuer
Octopus Sales and Marketing Director Li Yuer said that following the distribution started in the early morning, many citizens have already collected consumer coupons through the app. The system was unstable in the first hour following the opening, but the situation has since improved. As for the limit of $3,000, she said that Octopus is an anonymous payment tool, and they will consider the issue of the limit of $3,000 in a balance of convenience, flexibility and legislation.
A few days ago, Wang Xueling, director of the Government’s Budget and Tax Policy Unit, said on a radio program: “Octopus is not designed to send consumer coupons.” According to the current Payment Systems and Stored Value Facilities Ordinance, the maximum stored value of bearer stored value facilities is HK$3,000. The original intention of the design of the Ordinance is to prevent citizens from causing huge losses due to the loss of Octopus cards. Wang Xueling pointed out that according to her understanding, it took more than a year to test and update the system for the last time the Octopus was upgraded from 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan, so even if the regulations are relaxed, it will take a lot of time to upgrade.
source:Hong Kong 01, RTHK
