Hong Kong police to investigate if Western Harbour Tunnel overcharging incident was deliberate, top official says
- The incident that saw thousands of motorists charged extra on Monday was caused by ‘human error’, Eric Chan says
- ‘We suspect someone tampered with the computer without reason, I believe this is not a technical error,’ official adds
Hong Kong police have been tasked with investigating whether a Western Harbour Tunnel toll collection incident that resulted in thousands of motorists being charged extra was intentional, a top official has said.
Acting chief executive Eric Chan Kwok-ki told a press briefing on Tuesday that an inquiry revealed the overcharging was caused by “human error”, which a tunnel employee using a previous system instead of the new one was behind.
“We asked the tunnel operator to immediately investigate this so-called human error, and a preliminary investigation showed that someone had interfered with the computer system resulting in erroneous charges,” he said.
“We suspect someone tampered with the computer without reason, I believe this is not a technical error.”
Chan also said that the government had asked police to follow up on the incident, stressing the force would press charges and severely punish those found to have tampered with or deliberately damaged the system.
Police said the cyber security and technology crime bureau was investigating the case.
More than 4,700 motorists driving through the Western Harbour Tunnel between 10.02am and 11.04am were charged extra on Monday, the first working day of phase two of new time-adjusted tolls.
Thousands overcharged on first working day of stage 2 of Hong Kong toll changes
Chan, the chief secretary, said that operations had resumed normally after the incident, with the tunnel operator refunding all overcharged drivers.
On a recent spate of technical errors at various government departments, including the system failure that briefly interrupted the district council poll on December 10, Chan said the latest incident was caused by human interference rather than a computer glitch.
Commissioner for Transport Angela Lee Chung-yan on Monday apologised for the error and pledged to strengthen internal monitoring.
The Transport Department introduced the toll adjustment scheme, under which private cars using the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, the Eastern Harbour Tunnel and the Western Harbour Tunnel pay varying charges depending on the time of day, in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu told a radio show on Tuesday that driving from West Kowloon to Hong Kong Island via the Western crossing at 10.22am cost him HK$60 (US$7.70) when he was supposed to pay HK$52.
Traffic jams at 2 Hong Kong tunnels will shrink after toll changes: authorities
He called the error “disappointing”, saying management issues could be involved.
“There should be a high-level authorisation and a set of agreed procedures every time a change in the charging scheme is involved,” he said. “Why was it possible to adjust the charging scheme without the Transport Department’s knowledge?
“It is necessary to find out whether there are loopholes in the process itself.”
Zhang said he received a refund of HK$60 instead of the extra HK$8 he was charged, adding the system requested a new payment of HK$52.
He expressed concerns that some drivers might be unaware of the refund and the newly requested payment, which might be treated as an overdue one.
Zhang said the incident might have affected people’s confidence in the system, urging the contractor to disclose its investigation and explain it to the public.
He added a mechanism triggering warnings and penalties in case of unsatisfactory performance was supposed to be included in the contract with the service provider, stressing the incident might reflect the government’s “insufficient” gatekeeping of the process.
Hong Kong can go beyond tunnel vision to reduce congestion citywide
Separately, the Transport Department said Aberdeen Tunnel, which connects Happy Valley to southern Hong Kong Island, would begin using the HKeToll system from 5am on Sunday.
The tunnel, which averages 57,456 daily trips, is the second-last one in the city to switch to the system. The initiative enables motorists to pay charges remotely using tags, without having to stop and queue up at toll booths for payments, easing congestion.
Tai Lam Tunnel will be the only one still using manual toll booths and Autotoll lanes.
The department said more than 810,000 vehicle tags had been issued as of Monday, accounting for more than 99 per cent of licensed vehicles in Hong Kong.
They have collected tolls for an average of 510,000 daily trips at the Tsing Sha Control Area, Shing Mun Tunnels, Lion Rock Tunnel, three harbour crossings and Tate’s Cairn Tunnel.
