Q1. Who are given the power to enforce the regulations/by-laws?
Public bus, public light bus and taxi
Generally speaking, the following persons may apprehend any person whom he believes, on reasonable ground, to have committed an offence against certain regulations in the regulations/by-laws, including:
- Any driver of a public bus, public light bus or taxi while on duty and while wearing his badge;
- Any authorised person on duty, i.e. an employee of a licensee on duty on or in connection with a vehicle: see Regulation 2(1) of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374D)
They may detain such person until he can be handed over to a police officer: see Regulations 58(a) and 58(b) of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374D).
For public buses specifically, any person who is an employee of a public bus company and who is in uniform and on duty may arrest without a warrant any person whom he has reasonable cause to believe has contravened the Public Bus Services Regulations (Cap. 230A) and may detain such person until he can be handed over to a police officer: see Regulation 13(3) of the Public Bus Services Regulations (Cap. 230A).
Mass Transit Railway
For Mass Transit Railway, every official, namely any person duly authorised to act on behalf of the MTR Corporation Limited, has the power to remove (if necessary by the use of reasonable force) from the railway premises any person whom he reasonably suspects of having committed, or attempting to commit any breach of the Mass Transit Railway By-laws (Cap. 556B).
If such breach is an offence as provided under the by-laws, the official has power to detain such person until he can be delivered into the custody of a police officer to be dealt with according to law: see By-law 2 and By-law 42(2) of the Mass Transit Railway By-laws (Cap. 556B).