Utility bills, hospital visit records can be used as proof of residency in Hong Kong for appeals over HK$5,000 voucher scheme, finance chief says
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan says applicants for consumption voucher scheme can use documents such as salary payment slips, rental tenancies as proof of residency
- Those who cannot provide such documents can also state their reasons in their appeals, to be considered at authorities’ discretion
The government will accept documents such as utility bills and hospital visit records as proof of residency from Hongkongers appealing the rejection of their application for the latest handout of HK$5,000 (US$637), the financial chief has said, after the denial of nearly a quarter of a million people sparked an outcry.
Writing on his blog on Sunday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said applicants making an appeal could also use bank or tax returns statements, salary payment slips, rental tenancies and phone bills as proof they lived in the city full time.
Those who could not provide the documents could also state their reasons in their appeals, and authorities would consider the applicant’s actual situation at their discretion, he said.
“We will deal with it in a relaxed manner and as conveniently as possible for the public,” Chan said. “If residents are now living in Hong Kong, they only need to provide simple proof to qualify for the consumption voucher.”
The government is expected to hand out the second tranche of consumption vouchers on August 7 to about 6.3 million eligible permanent residents and new arrivals from mainland China, plus about 300,000 others eligible for residency, such as people with specialist qualifications, entrepreneurs and students. But people with plans to migrate are disqualified. The handouts are aimed at stimulating the local economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
About 240,000 people were ruled ineligible for the latest round of e-vouchers because they were considered as having “permanently left Hong Kong” after they had applied to withdraw their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions. Crowds flooded a consumption voucher service centre in Mong Kok on Friday to appeal against the ruling.
“Quite a number of those people should have emigrated overseas. Allowing them to get the vouchers would cost the government hundreds of millions of public funds,” he said, while revealing about 30,000 applicants had made an appeal by Saturday evening.