Passenger Service Licence

The Passenger Service Licence (PSL, 客運營業證) and Passenger Service Licence Certificate (PSLC, 客運營業證證明書) are a licensing system used by the Transport Department (TD) to regulate the services and vehicles operated by all operators of non-franchised buses, private buses, public light buses (PLBs) and private school light buses in Hong Kong, as well as the services and vehicles they operate.

System overview

Hong Kong's current transport policy is to give priority to the development of mass carriers, i.e. railways and franchised buses are the major modes of public transport, while other modes of transport, including non-franchised buses, private buses (PBs), public light buses (PLBs) and school private light buses, play a supplementary role and serve their respective niche markets.

To operate non-franchised buses, private buses, public light buses and school private light buses in Hong Kong, operators are required to apply for a Passenger Service Licence (PSL) from the Transport Department (TD) and a Passenger Service Licence Certificate (PSLC) for the vehicles used to provide the services. A PSL authorises the holder to operate a vehicle for the carriage of passengers, while a PSLC is issued to a vehicle operating under a PSL. It has been the established practice of the Transport Department (TD) to issue two types of PSL certificates, namely a ‘green’ PSL certificate for vehicles providing scheduled services in accordance with the Schedule of Services and a ‘red’ PSL certificate for vehicles providing non-scheduled services.

In addition, PSL holders are required to obtain individual service endorsement from the Transport Department (TD) for the specific services they intend to provide, and approval from TD for individual routes of scheduled services (i.e. those with fixed headways and routes).

Regulated service types

The types of non-franchised buses, private buses, public light buses (PLBs) and private school light buses (PSLBs) regulated under the Passenger Service Licence (PSL) system and the types of services that may be provided by the operators are set out below:

Type A: Public buses (non-franchised buses)

Non-franchised public bus services refer to:

• a service for the carriage of passengers on public buses; and
• a service of a type specified in section 4(3) of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230) or of any other type approved by the Commissioner; and
• services not required to be operated under a franchise granted under the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap. 230).

Before a non-franchised bus operator proposes to operate a bus service for hire or reward, he/she must possess a valid Passenger Service Licence (PSL) issued by the Transport Department (TD), which authorises the licensee to operate one of the eight types of non-franchised bus services stipulated in the Public Bus Services Ordinance, including the red-lettered non-franchised services and green-lettered scheduled services as set out below:

• A01 Tour Service (e.g. Big Bus, Crystal Bus, defunct Hong Kong Citytours)
• A02 Hotel Service
• A03 Student Service
• A04 Employees' Service
• A05 International Passenger Service: Classified as a cross-boundary service (cross-boundary coach) or a non-cross-boundary service (discontinued Airport Express Shuttle Bus) for the carriage of passengers travelling between any one or more of the following locations - the Airport, HSR West Kowloon Station, Macau Ferry Terminal or any other terminals, any Hong Kong Boundary Control Points, any hotels, offices of airlines, or any ferry terminals or terminals of the same type, where the passengers travelling on the service include only:
• a person arriving in or departing from Hong Kong by air, rail, ferry, ship or motor vehicle;
• a person who greets or accompanies a person referred to in the preceding paragraph; or
• a person employed by an airline or its agent, or a person employed by a travel agent, shipping agent or railway agent to carry a person.
  • The "Restriction Codes" represent the boundary control points through which each cross-boundary coach is permitted to pass: HYW for Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (Liantang Port), HZMB for Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities, LMC for Lok Ma Chau Control Point (Huanggang Port of Entry), MKT for Man Kam To Control Point (Wenjindu Port of Entry), SBP for Shenzhen Bay Port, and STK for Sha Tau Kok Control Point (Shatoujiao Port of Entry)
• A06 Residents' Service
• A07 Duplicate transport service: a service in which buses are combined with one or more modes of public transport. In response to changes in the market, the Transport Department (TD) has not issued any approval for this type of service for a number of years.
• A08 Contract Hire Service: To meet the demand for ad hoc services not covered by the above seven categories
• Subordinate type: Free bus services (shopping centre shuttle buses, flat-viewing buses)
• Under the existing licensing conditions, if an operator provides a service to and from the same origin and destination areas, and if the service operates for not more than two consecutive or intermittent days within a period of 30 days, and does not charge passengers individual fares, it is not necessary to obtain prior written approval from the Transport Department (TD) before the commencement of the service, and the service is generally known as a free bus service.

The following non-franchised bus services are not open to application by the public:

• A10 MTR Bus
• A13 MTR Feeder Bus

Type B: Private buses

A private bus (私家巴士) means a bus used for the following purposes:

• purposes other than for hire or reward; or
• the carriage of passengers, whether for hire or reward or not, who are
  • students, teachers and employees of an educational establishment; or
  • disabled persons and persons assisting such disabled persons

Like non-franchised buses, private bus services are regulated by the PSL system, under which holders are required to operate in accordance with the conditions of the relevant PSLs, and there are four types of PSLs for private buses as set out below:

• B01 Student Service: the use of private buses registered in the name of an educational establishment for the carriage of students of the educational establishment and persons accompanying or managing such students, or persons teaching in the educational establishment, to and from the educational establishment, for which individual fares may be charged, for example, the school buses of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (before 2012)
• B02 Employees' Service: a non-hired or paid service whereby private buses registered in the name of the employer carry their employees to and from their workplace, e.g. Citybus Leyland Olympian with the fleet number 19 (now decommissioned), staff buses of Oriental Daily News group
• B03 Disabled Service: services provided exclusively for the carriage of disabled persons and the use of services provided by persons employed to assist such disabled persons may be charged individually, e.g. Rehabus
• B04: designated services which are not for hire or reward but are authorised by the TD, e.g. training buses used by franchised bus companies for training of bus captains, Southern District Rehab Access

Type C: Public light buses

This category applies to individual public light buses charging a fare and providing a passenger service, including:

• C01 Public light bus (non-scheduled) services, i.e. red minibuses
• C02 Public light bus (scheduled) services, i.e. green minibuses.

At present, the total number of PLBs in these two categories does not exceed 4,350.

Type D: School private light buses

With effect from 1 October 1999, school private light buses were included in the passenger service licence system.

• D01 For school private light bus services (commonly known as "nanny vans"), which may be operated for hire or reward to carry students, with a maximum seating capacity of 19 passengers, subject to a D01 endorsement, e.g. a 12-seat Toyota Hiace.

Approval of applications

Any service operated on any bus specified in a passenger service licence or on any bus held by a holder of a passenger service licence, whether operated solely by the holder of a passenger service licence or in conjunction with other holders of passenger service licences or otherwise, other than any type of bus service provided for in the Public Bus Services Ordinance, from the same originating area to the same destination area, whether continuously or intermittently for more than two days in a 30-day period shall require the prior written approval of the Transport Department before the commencement of such service. Where the service is operated from the same originating area to the same destination area for a period of more than two days within a 30-day period, whether continuously or intermittently, the prior written approval of the Transport Department shall be required before the commencement of the service. To operate a service or make changes to an approved service, the applicant should, as far as reasonably practicable, apply to the TD at least 14 days before the commencement of the service or the change of service.

The Public Vehicles Sub-section of the Transport Department is responsible, among other things, for processing applications for trade licences and trade licence certificates, while the Urban and New Territories Regional Offices of TD are responsible for vetting and approving applications for franchised services under the trade licence system at the district level. In determining an application for a Passenger Service Licence under section 28 of the Road Traffic Ordinance, the Department shall have regard to the following matters, amongst other matters considered relevant to the application:

• Directions of the Chief Executive in respect of any policy relating to the provision of public transport services;
• Any valid limit on the number of vehicles which may be registered under section 23, e.g. the imposition of a limit of not more than 4,350 on public light buses;
• The demand for the service that the applicant proposes to provide;
• The level of service already provided or planned by other public transport operators;
• The area to be served and the road traffic conditions; and
• The standard of service to be provided by the applicant.

The Transport Department has the right to refuse to approve the application or to specify the routes, timetable, number and type of vehicles to be allocated and the location of the stopping place.

Issuance of PSLs

The Transport Department may impose conditions, including the number and type of vehicles, feasible uses of the vehicles, and details of their operation, to regulate the operation of the vehicles belonging to the permittee when issuing a licence. The licensee is obliged to comply with the licensing conditions, which may be varied by the TD at any time after consultation with the licensee and giving three months' advance notice.

A Passenger Service Licence is valid for a maximum of 5 years and may be renewed for a period not exceeding 5 years at a fee of $396. Passenger Service Licences for school private light buses were issued on 1 October 1999 and the fee was waived administratively on a yearly basis from the date of implementation until 1 September 2015 when it was officially waived by legislation. At present, new passenger service licences (PSLs) granted for the first time are valid for one year, and are normally renewed thereafter for two years for non-franchised buses and annually for school private light buses. The Department also has the power to refuse to issue a PSL under section 29 of the Road Traffic Ordinance, and to refuse to issue a PSL in respect of any vehicle which is not, or is about to be, owned by the applicant.

Every Passenger Service Licence certificate (PSLC) shall be issued for the sole purpose of operating the service of the vehicle to which it relates and shall be valid for a period of 12 months or until the expiry of the Passenger Service Licence to which it relates, whichever is the earlier. A Passenger Service Licence certificate is not transferable and if the holder of the certificate is required to transfer the vehicle, the purchaser shall apply for a new certificate for the vehicle bearing the Passenger Service Licence number in the name of the new holder. The fee for applying for or renewing a Passenger Service Licence Certificate is $160. The Passenger Service Licence Certificate and Passenger Service Licence for school private light buses were formally repealed by legislation on 1 September 2015 when the fees that had been administratively waived were formally abolished.

Passenger Service Licence (PSL) holders are required to provide a service contract of any duration to demonstrate the continued need for the service when they apply for renewal of their PSL. For renewal of a service endorsement, at least one service contract of any duration shall be submitted for each type of service authorised in the Passenger Service Licence. An application for renewal of a Passenger Service Licence may not be approved if the Passenger Service Licence holder fails to provide the relevant supporting documents.

Operation of services

Routes

For the operation of hotel services, student services to any tertiary education institution, employee services, international passenger services or resident services of a regular nature with fixed routes, fixed destinations or areas of destination and timetables, the permittee shall comply with the Schedule of Services issued by the Transport Department and the conditions of service governing the operation of such services. The Schedule of Services and any subsequent amendments thereto shall only come into effect upon the issue of a letter of approval by the Transport Department. The relevant Schedule of Service and any application for amendment shall be submitted to TD for approval at least 30 days before the proposed commencement date.

Passenger Service Licence certificates for Scheduled Services (Types A05, A06, A07 and C02) issued before 13 July 2020 are coloured in green, abbreviated as PSLC(S), while those for non-scheduled routes are coloured in red.

Fares

A service type sign (Employees' Service) placed on the windscreen at the front of the vehicle in black letters on a yellow background

Fares for any service specified in the Passenger Service Licence shall be collected at locations approved by the Transport Department. Where approval is given by TD for collection of fares at boarding locations or on buses providing the service, such fares shall be collected in the form of travel vouchers, pre-paid tickets, monthly passes or any other forms as specified by TD.

Fares paid for student services shall be collected in the form of pre-payment (e.g. travel vouchers or monthly tickets) and collection of fares for immediate journeys is not permitted at boarding points or on buses providing the services, except for student services provided to post-secondary education institutions.

Displaying of logo

With effect from 1 February 2007, the Passenger Service Licence (PSL) conditions have required the NFB licensee to display on the windscreen of the front of the bus or on the route sign at the front of the bus an appropriate Service Type Sign indicating the type of service to be operated by the bus concerned when the non-franchised bus is engaged in the provision of any service.

‘The standard size of the Service Type Sign is A4 feet, made of plastic material, with the approved service (e.g. "Hotel Service" or "Residents' Service") written in black letters on a yellow background and in the specified font size, and must be positioned in such a way as to be clearly visible from the front of the bus without obstructing the driver's line of sight, and it is not permissible to display two or more signs at the same time. No two or more signs are allowed to be displayed at any one time. These signs are not required to be displayed when the bus is not providing any service.

In addition, a Passenger Service Licence certificate issued by the Transport Department and a letter plate with the Passenger Service Licence number in accordance with Diagram No. 2 in Schedule 2 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (commonly known as the "red and green discs") must be displayed on the left-hand side of the windscreen of the front of the bus at the rear of the vehicle.

Like the "red and green discs", the Passenger Service Licence certificate used to be coloured in red and green to differentiate between non-dedicated and dedicated services. However, since 2005, the Transport Department has extended the requirement to operate in accordance with the Schedule of Services ("SoS") to all scheduled non-franchised bus services by issuing SoSs for hotel shuttles, student services of tertiary institutions, employee services and free shuttle routes provided by contract hire services. As a result, some of the buses issued with red PSL certificates are in fact also providing scheduled services. Audit recommended in 2017 that the Transport Department (‘TD’) should explore the possibility of merging the two types of PSL certificates to streamline the administrative work involved in issuing, renewing and amending PSL certificates. Starting from 13 July 2020, new or renewed Passenger Service Licence certificates were changed to a blue background colour to cover all service endorsements in a single certificate, and the original "red and green certificates" were to be gradually replaced. As the production of the "red/green discs" is arranged by the operators themselves and does not involve any administrative work of the Government, the display arrangement remains unchanged.

Enforcement

Under the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), PSL holders are required to comply with the licensing conditions for non-franchised buses and the PSL conditions. If a non-franchised bus operates without approval (e.g. providing services not permitted under the endorsement), or contravenes any of the licensing or PSL conditions, the Commissioner for Transport may, in accordance with the law, suspend or permanently cancel the PSL or the PSL certificate of the vehicle involved, or vary the requirements of the PSL (e.g. by modifying the permitted use). The Commissioner's above powers are applicable to all vehicles (including public light buses and school private light buses) which are required to be issued with a passenger service licence, and are not confined to non-franchised buses.

In considering the penalty, the severity of the penalty must appropriately reflect the seriousness of the case, e.g. the length of the passenger service licence suspension period may vary depending on the seriousness of the case. Generally speaking, for relatively minor offences (e.g. individual cases of loading/unloading of passengers at non-designated locations), the penalties are generally lighter (e.g. suspension of the PSL of the vehicle concerned for a few days); for more serious cases (e.g. provision of non-approved services, i.e. provision of illegal/unauthorised resident bus services), the penalties are heavier (e.g. a longer period of suspension of the PSL of the vehicle concerned). For very serious breaches (e.g. repeated provision of illegal resident bus services by a PSL holder), the PSL of the entire fleet of the operator may be revoked.

Gallery

The original copy of the Passenger Service Licence ("red and green certificates") displayed on the windscreen (public bus, Good Funds Service Limited), with green certificate being scheduled services and red being non-scheduled services

Example of a round PSL plate at the rear (Public Bus)

Green Passenger Service Licence (Green Minibus)

Back of Passenger Service Licence Certificate ("green certificate" for scheduled service)

Back of Passenger Service Licence Certificate ("red certificate" for non-scheduled service)

Contents of PSL number "14286C" (green minibus, Good View Maxicab Management Limited)

Contents of PSL "72C" (green minibus, Fu San Luen Maxicab Limited), this number is the smallest among all GMB operators

Green Passenger Service Licence Certificate for Cross-boundary Coach, with codes representing Lok Ma Chau Boundary Control Point (LMC), Man Kam To Boundary Control Point (MKT), Shenzhen Bay Port (SBP) and Sha Tau Kok Boundary Control Point (STK) respectively

Transport Department may designate certain days on which passenger service licences shall cease to have effect

Red PSLC (public bus, China Motor Bus Company Limited)

Contents of PSL number "10649C" (green minibus, Choi Lung Maxicab Public Light Bus Limited)

Green PSLC (green minibus, Choi Lung Maxicab Public Light Bus Limited)

PSL plate of Choi Lung Maxicab Public Light Bus Limited

Contents of PSL number "3298C" (Koon Wing Motors Limited under Ma Ah Muk)

Certificate for PSL number "7642A" (non-franchised public bus, CTBus resident bus routes KR21 and NR38)

Certificate of PSL number 18376C (green minibus, Wai Ching Industrial Company Limited)

Since 2020, Blue PSLCs are used to list out conbined scheduled and non-scheduled service endorsements. Some words are omitted due to too much restrictions (Kwoon Chung Motors)

Contents of PSL number "13242A" (public bus, MTR Bus)

Related articles

• Motor vehicle licence
• Details of Approved Residents’ Service

External links

• Transport Department website: Application for Passenger Service Licence (PSL) for non-franchised buses
  • Application form
• Laws of Hong Kong: Chapter 374 Road Traffic Ordinance Section 27
• Laws of Hong Kong: Chapter 374D Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations
• 【愚問】為甚麼「客運營業證」有紅、綠色之分？ (Why difference between red and green PSLs), hkitalk.net
• Vehicle Operating Licence Services under the Passenger Service Licence System, Chapter 4 of the Director of Audit's Report No. 50, October 2010

To facilitate quoting and enquiries, the following redirect page(s) will direct to this page:

PSL, Passenger Service Licence Certificate and PSLC

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