Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme

The Work Incentive Transport Subsidy (WITS) Scheme is to relieve the burden on travelling expenses commuting to and from work on the part of low-income households with employed members and promote sustained employment.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must meet the following criteria:

• be employed, including self-employed, and lawfully employable in Hong Kong;
  
• incurring travelling expenses commuting to and from work;
  
• meeting the monthly income and asset limits of the household (please refer to Appendix); and
  
• working no less than 72 hours per month (if applying for full-rate subsidy of $600 per month) or working less than 72 hours but at least 36 hours per month (if applying for half-rate subsidy of $300 per month).

Deadline for Application

Applicants may apply for the subsidy for the previous six to 12 months in each application. Application for subsidy starting from April 2011 should be submitted on or before 30 April 2012; that for subsidy starting from May 2011 should be submitted by 31 May 2012, and so on. Examples of the application deadline are as follows:

Claim Period for Subsidy Starting from	Deadline for Application
April 2011	30 April 2012
May 2011	31 May 2012
June 2011	30 June 2012
March 2012 (with adjusted means test limits)	31 March 2013

Notes to Applicants

• For the convenience of applicants, applications can be submitted by post and subsidy is paid through bank transfer.
• The subsidy is granted on the basis of calendar month (Note) and applicants will receive WITS for each eligible month.
• Applications are means-tested on a household basis. Household members include core family members living on the same premises and persons who live on the same premises and share the provisions for a living. Applicants of the same household need to complete one application form only.

(Note:

A calendar month counts from the first day to the last day of the month. For example, April is from 1st April to 30th April, and May is from 1st May to 31st May, etc.)

Application Documents

The Guidance Notes on Application for Work Incentive Transport Subsidy Scheme in the application documents provides details of the Scheme and WITS applications, samples for completing the application form, copies of supporting documents to be submitted, etc. for applicants’ reference. Application documents can be obtained at Distribution Points below, and may also be downloaded here.

Application documents available for downloading include:

• Household Application Form (Internet Version) (PDF)
• Supplementary Sheets (Internet Version) (if applicable) (PDF)
• Guidance Notes on Application (Internet Version) (PDF)
• Cover Sheet for Copies of Supporting Documents (PDF)
• Application Reminder (applicable to the internet version of application documents and containing Mailing Label and Address Label for submission of application) (PDF)

Leaflet of the WITS Scheme

• Chinese (PDF)
  
• English (PDF)
• Hindi# (PDF)
• Nepali# (PDF)
• Urdu# (PDF)

#	Updated information is being translated. Please refer to the English version for the time being.

Distribution Points of Application Documents

• WITS Division of the Labour Department
  (Office at Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui)
• Job Centres of the Labour Department
• Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Department
• Social Security Field Units of the Social Welfare Department

Submission of Application

Applicants should put the completed application form, mailing label and copies of relevant supporting documents into the envelope provided for submission of application for return to the Labour Department in the following ways:

• by post (P.O. Box 98877, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office, Kowloon) or by hand to the WITS Division of the Labour Department; or
• through the Application Drop-in Boxes at the Job Centres or Headquarters of the Labour Department.

Addresses and Service Hours of the Labour Department’s WITS Division and Headquarters

Office	Address	Service Hours
WITS Division	G/F, Middle Road Multi-storey Carpark Building, 15 Middle Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon (near Exit L1 of MTR Tsim Sha Tsui Station, or Exit K of Tsim Sha Tsui East Station)	Monday to Friday (9:00a.m. – 6:15p.m.) Closed on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays
Labour Department’s Headquarters (with Application Drop-in Box)	17/F, Harbour Building, 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong

Frequently Asked Questions

• WITS Scheme

TV and Radio Announcement on the WITS Scheme

• TV Announcement
• Radio Announcement

Videos relating to the WITS Scheme

• Adjusted travel subsidy to benefit more
• Subsidy plan eases transport expenses
• Transport subsidy form to be distributed
• Subsidy applications to open Oct 3

Enquiries

• Labour Department’s Enquiry Hotline: 2717 1771 (handled by 1823 Call Centre)

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