Taxis will get a one-off payment of HK$10,000 under a transport sector bailout

Some 130,000 luxury apartment shuttles, taxis and goods vehicles will share a HK$1.4 billion Coronavirus bailout, with a one-off, no-questions-asked subsidy designed to assist the transport trade in “coping with the operating pressure in the current economic environment”.

Each shuttle bus will earn a one-off payment of HK$20,000; while school buses, taxis and goods vehicles will receive HK$10,000.

Bus and taxi owners need to submit a copy of the registration documents before 31 May: the government says payouts will be made within a month. Goods vehicle owners can apply through an online platform, open from mid-April.

In September last year, the government subsidised commercial vehicles to the tune of HK$678 million in waived license and examination fees, while in October, Finance Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced a HK$1.35 billion fuel subsidy for the sector.

The subsidy announced today is not related to these bailouts but will be paid from the government’s emergency Anti-Epidemic Bailout Fund.

Vehicle owners can email oneoffsubsidy@td.gov.hk for more information.