I frequently find people smoking in bus termini and public transport interchanges, have they violated the law? Can I lodge a complaint?

All bus termini / public transport interchanges (PTIs) which are defined as 'indoor' by Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance belong to 'statutory no smoking areas', and all people in the areas shall comply with the smoking ban. Besides, the Department of Health has implemented the smoking ban in public transport facilities (PTFs) by phases for those areas identified as fulfilling the criteria as set out in section 3(1AB) of the Ordinance:

• any area that consists of the termini of 2 or more modes of public transport and is used for effecting and facilitating interchange between them; or
• any bus terminus of more than one specified route as defined in section 2 of the Public Bus Services Ordinance (Cap.230).

For the list published in Gazette of the public transport facilities of which smoking is prohibited, please click here.

If you note that the bus terminus/ public transport interchange is a statutory no smoking area but smoking offences persist in the location, you may consider making a complaint to Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) (Tel: 2961 8823 / Fax: 2575 8944 / Email: taco@dh.gov.hk / tobaccocontrol@dh.gov.hk ). Please note that smoking is an action that lasts for a short while and staff of TACO cannot arrive at the concerned location immediately. However, TACO would arrange inspections and law enforcement actions after receiving the complaint.