Illegal parking of rental bicycles | Ombudsman proposes 8 improvement recommendations
The Ombudsman, Jack Chan, today (Nov. 21) announced the completion of a direct investigation operation into the handling of obstructions to passageways by bicycles owned by operators of bicycle rental services of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), and made eight recommendations to the Department.
A total of 14 recreational venues managed by the LCSD have bicycle rental services provided by operators engaged by the Department for members of the public to rent bicycles for leisure or short-distance travel.
Contract terms of the relevant business permit (permit) issued by the LCSD explicitly forbid placing bicycles and articles relating to bicycle rental services outside the permit area. However, Ombudsman investigations have revealed that it is common for operators to place their bicycles outside the permit area in violation of contract terms. The Ombudsman also found that the existing enforcement mechanism of the LCSD against operators is not consistent, according to the Office of The Ombudsman.
The Ombudsman has made a total of eight improvement recommendations to the LCSD, including:
- keep monitoring the operator concerned closely. Should it continue to occupy the space outside the permit area in violation of contract terms, decisive enforcement action must be taken;
- strengthen monitoring of bicycle rental services operators, and take decisive enforcement action against irregularities pursuant to permit contract terms;
- step up staff training on the enforcement of permit contract terms and relevant procedures to ensure that enforcement actions are taken rigorously, accurately and effectively;
- examine how to enhance the current enforcement regime and relevant guidelines to carry out enforcement work in a more efficient and fairer manner in accordance with consistent standards;
- conduct a comprehensive review on the operation of bicycle rental services at venues under its purview, and to examine the feasibility of allowing operators to use areas outside the permit area for placing bicycles, subject to compliance with the relevant requirements;
- consider revising the terms of future permit contracts to suitably include a certain area outside the bicycle kiosk as part of the permit area for better management;
- collect information on the performance of operators (especially irregularities and their approach to complying with reminders and warning letters, etc) and include such information into the LCSD database as the basis of reference in approving new permits in the future; and
- step up publicity to encourage members of the public to monitor operators' performance and report irregularities to the LCSD at once.
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