It would shorten processing time for travellers and prevent congestion
Using Octopus cards to pay the proposed $18 border tax could shorten the time it takes to process travellers, the government says.
In a paper to be discussed at Legco next week, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau say transport operators in Hong Kong have agreed to collect the border tax to avoid the creation of bottlenecks at the busy border crossings.
The paper says that at the Lowu border crossing, it takes an average of 21 seconds for checks to be made on each traveller. But travellers must wait an average of 15 minutes before the clearance begins.
It said both the Kowloon-Canton Railway and the company handling the Octopus cards believed it was feasible to collect the proposed tax with Octopus cards.
Currently, 80 per cent of travellers on KCR arriving at the Lowu border crossing use Octopus cards.
The government has also announced a system will be put in place to crack down on people who try to avoid paying the tax.