(a)
(b)
33 -
whether it plays any monitoring role over the engagement of debt collection companies by public utilities companies to collect arrears from their customers; and
to which government departments the public can go for lodging complaints about such harassment?
Reply:
Mr President,
(a)
(b)
Existing legislation governing the operation of the public utilities companies does not contain provisions empowering the relevant authorities to regulate the employment of debt collection agencies to collect arrears from customers. Of the public utilities companies which are subject to government regulation, only three fixed telecommunication network services operators, i.e. the Hong Kong Telephone Company Limited (HKTC), New T&T and Hutchison Telecommunications, and the Hongkong Telecom International Limited (HKTI) employ debt collection agencies to collect outstanding payments from customers. We understand that the debt collection mechanism is subject to close monitoring by the companies concerned to avoid harassment to their customers. For instance, in the case of the HKTC and the HKTI the debt collection agencies are thoroughly vetted by the companies, correspondence issued by the agencies to customers needs the prior approval of HKTI or HKTC, and the agencies are instructed not to contact the customers at unsocial hours.
Should members of the public encounter harassment from debt collection agencies, they should lodge a complaint with the company to which the debt collection agencies work. Failing a satisfactory resolution of the problem, members of the public should report the case to the Police. They may also solicit assistance from the relevant monitoring authorities if they so wish; for example, cases relating to telecommunications companies may be directed to the Office of the Telecommunications Authority.
End