Govt Urged To Tackle Long Queues At Licensing Office

The Audit Commission on Wednesday called on the Transport Department to relieve overcrowding at one of its licensing offices, suggesting that it uses a ticketing system so people don't have to wait in line in person.

Officers from the public spending watchdog visited various offices in August and September last year, and found that the Kowloon Licensing Office in Cheung Sha Wan has longer queues and a more congested environment, compared with three other locations.

Despite positive feedback, the Transport Department had earlier decided to drop the arrangement after two trial runs in 2015 and 2016, citing its complexity.

"In Audit's view, with the advance in technologies, setting up a queue ticketing system has the merits of reducing the extent of crowd gathering and upholding social distancing and enabling applicants to make good use of the waiting time instead of queuing up for services. It also provides a convenient and comfortable environment to the public," the watchdog noted in a report.

A man who queued at the licensing office in Admiralty told RTHK he had to wait for four hours, and that if such a system is in place it would save him a lot of time. "A lot of government systems have a reservation system, I don't know why the Transport Department doesn't have it... Other departments can do it, they can do it also."

But another person, who waited for less than half an hour, questioned whether it would be effective. "Someone can just come here first and then help someone else to take a ticket, and then they just can skip the queue," she said.

In addition, the commission said authorities should "critically review" the need for manpower at its licensing offices, after the number of staff jumped by almost a quarter from 289 in 2019 to 358 in 2021 even though offices had to handle fewer applications due to Covid.

While the increase in employees was intended to handle applications submitted through drop-in box, by post and online, the commission suggested that the Transport Department looked into improving the workflow of such non-counter services.

Under special work arrangements during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Transport Department said only 89 percent of non-counter licensing services had been provided within 10 days upon application in 2020, failing to meet the 95 percent target.

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