The Leisure & Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today new measures will be implemented to strengthen efforts to combat unauthorised transfer of bookings of its recreation and sports facilities/venues.

To ensure the fair use of the SmartPLAY system, SmartPLAY has incorporated conditions prohibiting the use of computer programmes or other automated tools to make bookings. Starting from January 21, next year, if users breach the conditions concerned, the LCSD will immediately suspend their accounts for 360 days without giving any prior notice.

To ensure hirers are genuine users, currently, a hirer who books a turf soccer pitch through SmartPLAY is required to provide the SmartPLAY user account information of four other users. The hirer and three of the users named in the booking are required to check-in together and be present during the use of the booked session.

Noting that this arrangement is generally effective since implementation, a similar arrangement will apply to indoor basketball and volleyball courts, which are popular facilities, starting from January 21, next year.

A hirer is required to provide the information of two other users when booking an indoor basketball or volleyball court. The hirer and one of the users named in the booking are required to check-in together and be present during use of the booked session.

Under the existing measures applicable to some recreation and sports facilities, if a hirer does not take up the booked facility 10 minutes after the booked session starts, the LCSD may at its discretion permit other users to use the facility free of charge for the same purpose as the original hirer, commonly referred to as the standby arrangement, on condition that there are no other same-type facilities available for booking at the material time.

In this connection, the LCSD has observed that certain hirers of indoor basketball and volleyball courts deliberately do not take up the booked sessions on the day of use, and are suspected to have engaged in touting activities by arranging for other users to use the booked courts under the standby arrangement.

To combat such abuse of the standby arrangement, and making reference to the current arrangement for turf football pitches, the standby arrangement will no longer be applicable to indoor basketball and volleyball courts from next Tuesday.