B. Smoking in Public Places

B. Smoking in Public Places

Smoking is prohibited in most public places under sections 3, 4, 4A and 4B of the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap. 371). It is an offence to smoke or do a smoking act in the following statutory no smoking areas: 

• Public transport carriers, e.g. public bus, public light bus, taxis, MTR trains, light rail vehicles, tramway cars, peak tramway cars, ferry vessels. 

• Indoor areas of: shops, department stores, shopping malls, markets, supermarkets, banks, restaurant premises, bars, karaoke establishments, mahjong-tin kau premises, bathhouses, massage establishments, workplaces, residential care homes, treatment centres, communal quarters, indoor public places such as toilet of offices, staircase of industrial or commercial buildings, lift lobby of residential buildings. 

• Indoor and outdoor areas of public lifts, escalators, hospitals, schools, child care centres, specified educational establishments (universities, post-secondary colleges, technical institutes, industrial training centres or skill centres, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts), public pleasure grounds managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, such as any park, playground, garden, sitting out area, promenade or sport ground, not including those areas designated as smoking areas, cinemas, theatres, concert halls, amusement centres, public swimming pools and the vicinities including sidewalks immediately adjacent to the swimming pools, diving boards, and spectator stands, stadia including pitches, running tracks and sidewalks immediately adjacent to them, and spectator’s stands, bathing beaches and the vicinities including adjacent barbeque areas, and Hong Kong Wetland Park. 

• Public places that lie within 3 meters outside the entrances/exits exclusively used for residential care homes, child care centres, schools, hospitals, and specified clinics or health centres managed or controlled by the HKSAR Government, the Hospital Authority, the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, or those specified by the Director of Health. 

Smoking or doing a smoking act is also prohibited while queuing in a line of two or more persons to board a public transport carrier at a designated boarding location, or while staying in the delineated area for a designated boarding location such as areas underneath bus shelters, inside areas where queuing positions are clearly indicated at ground level, or areas with queue railings) irrespective of whether the person is waiting to board a public transport carrier and whether there is another person in the area. 

In addition to queuing for public transport, it is also an offence to smoke or do a smoking act while queuing in a line of two or more persons to enter a cinema, theatre, concert hall, civic centre, community hall, community centre, activity centre, hospital, museum, public pleasure ground, public swimming pool, specified clinic or health centre, or stadium. 

Enforcement  

The driver, conductor, ticket inspector, ticket collector, or manager of any public transport carrier may enforce tobacco control measures by requesting the offender to cease to act, request the offender to leave the no smoking area or provide his name, address, and proof of identity if the offender is not co-operative, or call for police assistance if necessary.  Anyone who is requested to leave the no smoking area or removed from the no smoking area is not entitled to a refund of any admission fees or money for entering the premises or building. 

Penalty 

Under the Fixed Penalty (Smoking Offences) Ordinance (Cap. 600), anyone who smokes or does a smoking act in statutory no smoking areas or on public transport carriers will be liable for a fixed penalty of a $3,000 fine. 

Apart from Tobacco and Alcohol Control Inspectors and the Police, officers of Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and the Housing Department are also empowered to issue fixed penalty notices in public venues under their management.