The Government today said it will provide subsidies for the transport trade under the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund to assist the trade in coping with the operating pressure in the current economic environment.

It explained that the daily operation of local and cross-boundary passenger transport has been seriously affected due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures.

A one-off non-accountable subsidy of $30,000 per vehicle will be given to eligible registered owners of local non-franchised public buses, school private light buses, local hire cars, cross-boundary coaches and hire cars, taxis as well as red minibuses.

The Transport Department (TD) has issued letters to inform those owners of the application or registration details. After it has verified their submissions, the subsidy will be disbursed through autopay in about one to two months.

Holders of a Passenger Service Licence - Public Light Bus (Scheduled) Service will also be provided with a one-off non-accountable subsidy of $30,000 per green minibus.

As of March 31, the TD has received 159 applications involving 3,188 green minibuses. It has started to disburse the subsidy for verified applications.

For kaitos, each eligible operator will receive a one-off non-accountable subsidy of $20,000 per vessel deployed in kaito service. The TD has issued letters to inform all kaito operators of the subsidy's detailed arrangements.

Meanwhile, the Marine Department (MD) has notified eligible operators of cross-boundary ferries that a one-off non-accountable subsidy of $500,000 per ferry will be provided to them. It will start disbursing the subsidy after verifying the operators' submissions.

For enquiries, send an email to the TD or MD, or contact the latter at 2547 1312.