Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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- Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13
Question : Among the complaints received by the Consumer Council last year, how many of them were complaints from tourists referred by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC)? What is the expected increase of such referral cases in the coming financial year? What were and what will be the manpower and resources required to handle such complaints in the past and coming financial year? What are the reasons for the Consumer Council to replace TIC in handling such complaints from tourists? (At present, TIC is the only body vested with the statutory power.) Asked by : Hon. TSE Wai-chun, Paul Reply : To enhance the efficiency in handling complaints and optimise the use of resources, the Consumer Council (CC) and the Travel Industry Council (TIC) have established a complaint referral mechanism. Complaints received by the CC that involve issues under the TIC's regulatory purview, such as complaints against shops registered under the TIC, dissatisfaction of outbound travellers about local travel agencies, or disputes regarding reception service and shopping arrangement for inbound tour groups etc., are referred to the TIC for direct contact with the member travel agent or registered shop and traveller concerned. For complaints involving issues outside the TIC's purview, such as shopping at general retail shops, the CC will directly contact the merchants and consumers concerned for follow-up actions. In 2011, the CC received no referral of travellers’ complaints from the TIC. It is expected that the number of complaints referred by the TIC will not significantly increase in the new financial year.
Question : It is mentioned on p.316 of the 2012-13 Estimates that “In 2011, the Consumer Council conducted more product tests which involved substantial human resources. This led to a diversion of resources and thus the decrease in the number of consumer surveys and studies of general interest.” Does the above remark indicate that there will be a shortage of manpower and resources in the Consumer Council? What kind of “surveys” and “studies of general interest” were involved in relation to the decrease in the number of consumer surveys and studies of general interest? Were there any travel and tourism related matters? Asked by : Hon. TSE Wai-chun, Paul Reply : Each year, the Consumer Council (CC) conducts product tests, studies of general interest, in-depth researches and consumer surveys. Generally speaking, manpower and resources are deployed in accordance with the respective resource demands of researches and studies scheduled for the year. For example, if product tests in a year require substantial resources, resources for surveys or topical researches might need to be adjusted, and vice versa. In recent years, the in-depth studies conducted by the CC have become more extensive and complicated and the number of product tests has increased. As a result, the number of consumer surveys and studies of general interest conducted by the CC in 2011 has been slightly reduced. Nevertheless, the reduction only affects new consumer surveys and studies of general interest, and does not affect regular projects (such as the supermarket prices survey and the survey on prices of and spending on textbooks). Given the expanded scale of the completed researches and the greater resources devoted, the results should be of greater reference value for consumers. In 2011, the CC has conducted in-depth studies on various travel-related matters, including roaming services for outbound tourists, points to note on self-drive car services abroad and sales practices of outbound group tours.
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