Hawker Control

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is operating the Subsidy Scheme for Promotion of Contactless Payment for Licensed Hawkers under the Anti-epidemic Fund.  The Scheme is now open to applications from eligible licensed hawker for a one-off subsidy.  Upon approval, eligible hawker licensee will receive a one-off subsidy of $5,000.

Application Period and Method are as follow:

Eligibility

The application is open to all eligible licensed hawkers. To apply for the subsidy, an applicant is required to fulfil the following criteria:

1. The applicant is holder of a valid Fixed-pitch Hawker Licence [Note 1] or Itinerant Hawker Licence (“Hawker Licence”) issued by the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene under the Hawker Regulation (Cap. 132AI) at the time of application and the time of approval of the application;
2. The applicant’s business was operating at the time of application and is still operating at the time of approval of the application;
3. The applicant is currently providing or intends to provide at least one contactless payment means for patrons in his/her stall;
4. The contactless payment means being used or intended to be used by the applicant for his/her stall is processed through a licensed bank or a stored value facility (SVF) licensee being regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) [Note 2], or a debit/ credit card scheme;
5. The applicant has submitted an application and obtained an approval in principle from FEHD before signing a service contract with a service provider in relation to the provision of at least one contactless payment means;
6. Before the grant of subsidy, the applicant (i) has entered into a service contract of no less than a period of two years [Note 2] with a service provider in relation to the provision of at least one contactless payment means in the hawker stall as referred to in Part III of the Application Form and has provided a copy of the service contract to FEHD for verification. If the name of applicant was not indicated on the said service contract, the applicant must at the same time provide a copy of “Extracts of Information on the Business Register” issued by the Business Registration Office in between the period from 30 April 2021 to 31 August 2021; and (ii) has confirmed that necessary installation has been completed to enable contactless payment at the stall on or before 31 August 2021 (Tuesday); and
7. The applicant is not subject to any bankruptcy procedure/proceedings/order at the time of the application and up to the date of grant of subsidy.

[Note 1] Tenants/Licensees who hold valid tenancy agreements/licences for cooked food stalls under the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA), they must apply to the HA.
 
[Note 2] To date, HKMA has granted 18 organisations (3 of which are licensed banks) with SVF licences. Applicants should refer to the website of HKMA (https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/regulatory-resources/registers/register-of-svf-licensees/) for the register of the latest SVF licensees.

[Note 3] Hard copy of the service contract should be provided and electronic service contract will not be accepted.

Application Method

Obtaining Application Forms

During the application period, eligible applicants may: -

1. download and print the Application Form from the FEHD website（www.fehd.gov.hk）; or
   
2. obtain the Application Form in person during office hours at FEHD District Environmental Hygiene Offices or relevant Hawkers and Markets Section (Hong Kong and Islands) or Hawkers and Markets Section (Kowloon).

Notes for Filling in and Submission of the Application Form

Before completing Application Form, please read carefully the content of Application Form, Eligibility, Notes for Submission of the Application Form and Other Points to Note.

Submission of Application Form

Completed Application Form shall be submitted within the application period by the following means

1. Irrespective of whether the applicants are licensees of Fixed-pitch Hawker or Itinerant Hawker Licence, applicants may apply online;
2. Holders of valid Fixed-pitch Hawker Licence or Itinerant Hawker Licence operating in the New Territories may also submit their completed Application Forms to the respective District Environmental Hygiene Offices by mail or in person; and;
3. Holders of valid Itinerant Hawker Licence operating in Hong Kong and Kowloon may also submit their completed Application Forms to the offices of the Hawkers and Markets Section (Hong Kong and Islands) or Hawkers and Markets Section (Kowloon) by mail or in person.

   The opening hours of District Environmental Hygiene Offices are as follow : Monday to Friday： 8:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday： Closed Addresses and Telephone Numbers of District Environmental Hygiene Offices The opening hours of Hawker and Market Offices (for holders of Itinerant Hawker in Hong Kong region and Kowloon region only) are as follow : Monday to Friday： 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Public Holiday： Closed Hawkers and Markets Section (Hong Kong and Islands Office) Hawkers and Markets Section (Kowloon Office) 8/F, Lockhart Road Municipal Services Building, 225 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Tel. No.: 2879 5696 Room 301, 3/F, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Nam Cheong Offices and Vehicle Depot, 87 Yen Chow Street West, Kowloon Tel. No.: 2309 2086

4. Each person should submit only one Application Form.  The provision of personal data in the Application Form is voluntary.  Applications will not be accepted if applicants do not use the prescribed form, tender late submission, provide insufficient or incorrect information or tender duplicate application.
5. Application Forms shall be submitted before 5:00 p.m. on 30 June 2021.  For application by post, the date of application will be determined according to postmark date. The deadline of online applications is based on the time required by the FEHD system. Applicants should submit application as early as possible to ensure successful completion of the application process online before the deadline.

Application Procedure

1. The applicant shall opt at least one type of contactless payment means intended to be provided for patrons in the stall, and submit application on or before 30 June 2021 (Wednesday) by completing the Application Form for FEHD's approval before entering into any service contract with a service provider in relation to the provision of contactless payment means.
2. Under normal circumstances, FEHD will issue “Approval-in-Principle” in 7 working days if the applicant's proposed contactless payment means is in order.
3. The applicant is required to obtain an “Approval-in-Principle” from FEHD BEFORE entering into a service contract of no less than a duration of two years in relation to the provision of contactless payment means in the stall with the service provider specified in Part III of the Application Form, and proceed with the required installation for use by the patrons.
4. After completion of required installation and putting into use the contactless payment means in the stall, the applicant shall complete and return the “Report of Completion of Installation” attached to the “Approval-in Principle” together with a copy of the service contract to the respective District Environmental Hygiene Office, Hawkers and Markets Section (Hong Kong and Islands) Office or Hawkers and Markets Section (Kowloon) Office of the hawker licence on or before 31 August 2021 (Tuesday).  If the name of applicant was not indicated on the said service contract, the applicant must at the same time provide a copy of “Extracts of Information on the Business Register” issued by the Business Registration Office in between the period from 30 April 2021 to 31 August 2021.
5. FEHD will verify the service contract and confirm by inspection that the installation and payment terminal has been put into use in the stall before grant of subsidy.

Processing of Application

1. The FEHD will process and approve applications in the order in which they are received.

2. Applicant may be required to attend an interview to verify the submitted information.

3. Upon approval of subsidy, the eligible applicant will receive a one-off subsidy of HK$5,000 provided that he/she is not subject to any bankruptcy procedure/proceedings/order when the subsidy is to be granted.  The subsidy will be released by a crossed cheque posted to the correspondence address of the applicant according to the record kept by the FEHD.  If amendment of correspondence address is required, the applicant shall notify the respective District Environmental Hygiene Office, Hawkers and Markets Section (Hong Kong and Islands) Office or Hawkers and Markets Section (Kowloon) Office of the hawker licence in writing for processing.

4. FEHD will only issue a one-off subsidy for each applicant upon approval irrespective of the number of contactless payment means or payment terminal provided in the pitch.

5. Merged hawker pitches are counted as one single pitch.

6. Besides acknowledging receipt of application through the computer system automatically for online application, FEHD will in general issue an acknowledgement of application to the applicant within 7 working days on receipt of the application.  Irrespective of whether the Application Form is submitted by post, in person or online, FEHD will make use of the local mobile phone number provided in the Application Form to acknowledge receipt of application and to issue the relevant application number by SMS, also to facilitate contacting the applicant as soon as possible if in need. No acknowledgement and notification of application number will be given if local mobile phone number is not provided.  Applicant must fill in the local mobile phone number.

7. On approval, each eligible licensee of a hawker licence will receive a one-off subsidy of $5,000, and the subsidy will be released by a crossed cheque posted to the correspondence address of the holder of hawker licence according to the record kept by FEHD.

Other Points to Note

1. No fee is payable for obtaining or submitting the Application Forms.

2. The FEHD has not entrusted any organisations/persons to receive/process applications or assist in the submission of applications.

3. It is an offence under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201) to offer advantages to government officers in relation to their official duties.

4. The Government reserves the right to take appropriate action, including but not limited to refusing an application for subsidy or revoking any approval given and recovering any subsidy granted and all related expenses incurred if false information is given, or false declaration is made, or the applicant is found to be not complying with the undertaking in Part IV of the Application Form.

5. The applicant is required to submit the application form and obtain an "Approval in Principle" from FEHD before entering into a service contract with the proposed service provider in relation to the provision of at least one type of contactless payment means. If the applicant entered into a service contract with the proposed service provider before obtaining an "Approval in Principle" from FEHD, his/her application may become unqualified and subsidy will not be granted.

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