【News Buddy】領取消費券需確保賬戶有效
【原文】下文摘錄自2023年4月15日香港《文匯報》︰
市民期待的新一期3,000元電子消費券於4月16日發放。特區政府提醒市民，須確保已登記收取消費券的支付工具仍然有效，若長時間沒使用或會無法領取消費券，市民可聯絡營辦商處理，重新啟動賬戶。若遺失或已停用原有賬戶，可按政府消費券網站指引辦理手續，約兩三周後可用新賬戶領取。由於同日可領取新一個月的交通津貼，並與領取消費券採用同一系統，政府提醒，市民在「拍卡」後會先領取交通津貼，餘額才是消費券。由於八達通上限只有3,000元，卡內有餘額時就沒法一次性領取全部消費券，但只要八達通內有餘額上限空間，就可以隨時領取餘下的電子消費券。
財政司司長私人辦公室政策統籌主任李文成接受電台訪問時表示，若巿民利用八達通領取消費券而擁有不止一張八達通，須使用去年成功登記的八達通到相關服務點拍卡領取。以八達通領取首期消費券的最後限期為今年9月30日，巿民有5個月時間使用首期3,000元。由於政府發放消費券的原意是刺激消費，因此八達通用戶要待用完首期消費券後，才能於下一個月的16日（最早為7月16日）領取第二期2,000元消費券。
不少商戶趁政府派發電子消費券展開促銷活動，如便利店7-Eleven買300元現金券再送一張30元券；連鎖超市惠康買1,000元禮券送50元禮券及30元現金優惠券各一張；萬寧有禮券及折扣優惠，最高可合共扣減420元；新鴻基地產在12個商場推出「消費券賞上賞」，有會員卡的顧客以電子貨幣消費滿指定金額，可獲贈最高930元商場電子優惠券等。
立法會零售界議員邵家輝在接受香港文匯報訪問時表示，4月上半月香港零售市道很一般，政府選擇於復活節後推出電子消費券，有助零售業追回復活節期間銷售淡季的營業額，「今個復活節假期大批市民外遊，雖然有些海外遊客來港，但由於復活節並非內地假期，內地客不多，消費力流出比流入多，如在月初推出消費券，可能很多市民選擇用消費券購買旅遊套票。」
他指出，復常後零售業快速復甦，旅客和人流增加，不少店面再現人龍，尤其鐘錶、珠寶、名牌店舖營業額快速增長，「推出電子消費券為經濟復甦添薪加柴，對增加復常氣氛有很大幫助。」
Citizens must make sure their accounts are valid to receive consumption vouchers.
【譯文】The new issue of the $3,000 consumption voucher was released on April 16. The Government reminds the public to ensure that the payment instruments they have registered to receive the cancellation vouchers are still valid. They can contact the operators to reactivate their accounts if they have not used the consumption voucher for a long time or cannot collect them. If you have lost or deactivated your original account, you can follow the guidelines on the Government's voucher website and manage your new account in about two to three weeks. As the new month's transport subsidy can be collected on the same day and the same system is used to collect the vouchers, the Government reminds the public that they will receive the transport subsidy first. The remaining balance will be the vouchers after the "card is tapped". As the maximum amount of Octopus is only $3,000, collecting all the vouchers in one go is impossible when there is a balance on the card. Still, as long as there is room in the Octopus for the maximum balance, you can collect the remaining e-vouchers at any time.
In a radio interview, Mr Lee Man-sing, Policy Coordinator of the Financial Secretary's Private Office, said that if people have more than one Octopus to collect the vouchers, they must use the Octopus successfully registered last year to collect the vouchers at the relevant service points. The deadline for collecting the first instalment of the vouchers with Octopus is September 30 this year, giving people five months to use the first $3,000. Since the original purpose of the Government's vouchers is to stimulate spending, Octopus shoppers can only collect the second instalment of $2,000 vouchers on the 16th of the following month (July 16 at the earliest) after they have used up the first instalment.
Many merchants are taking advantage of the Government's distribution of e-coupons to launch promotions, such as the supermarket chain 7-Eleven, which offers a $30 coupon with a $300 cash coupon; Wellcome, which provides a $50 coupon and a $30 cash coupon with a $1,000 coupon; Mannings, which offers coupons and discounts up to a total of $420; and Sun Hung Kai Properties, which provides a "Coupon Reward" at 12 shopping malls for customers with membership cards. Customers with membership cards can receive up to $930 in shopping mall e-coupons when they spend a specified amount with an electronic payment method.
In an interview with Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Legislative Council Member for Retail, Peter Shiu Ka-fai said that the retail market in Hong Kong in the first half of April was very ordinary. After Easter, the Government launched consumption vouchers to help the retail industry recover from the low season turnover during Easter. If vouchers were introduced at the beginning of the month, many people might use them to buy travel packages.
He pointed out that after the resumption of the rapid recovery of the retail industry, the flow of tourists and people increased. Many stores, especially watches and clocks, jewellery, and brand-name stores, increased, "the introduction of electronic consumption vouchers for economic recovery to fuel the fire, to improve the resumption of the atmosphere is beneficial."
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