Transport commissioner Angela Lee on Monday said 4,700 vehicles were affected after the wrong tunnel tolls were displayed at one of the city's harbour crossings for an hour in the morning.

Lee apologised over the incident, which occurred between 10am and 11am on the first working day since time-sensitive toll charges were introduced, saying that human error was involved in the blunder at the Western Harbour Crossing.

"The service provider was originally using the fee schedule for time-varying tolls. The staff made a mistake and switched to the previous fixed tolls fee schedule, and about 4,700 vehicles using the Western Harbour Crossing were affected during that period," Lee told reporters.

"After learning of the incident, the service provider updated the fee schedule to the one for time-varying tolls. The change was made at 11.04am."

The transport official stressed that there was nothing wrong with the system itself.

Of those affected, 70 percent have received a refund after being charged the wrong toll, while the rest who have not paid have been issued a new payment notice.

The service provider has been asked to investigate the incident and submit a report to authorities, Lee added.

Among those affected was lawmaker Gary Zhang, who was charged HK$8 more when driving through the Western Harbour Crossing in the morning.

"Although the tunnel entrance displayed the fee to be HK$52, the HKeToll app still charged the maximum of HK$60," Zhang wrote on social media.

Zhang later told RTHK that he did not realise this until others told him they were overcharged. He said it was "very disappointing".

"The fare table is actually the most important or the most critical part of the whole charging system. Only people with appropriate authority, probably the Commissioner for Transport herself, should have the authority to give such [an] order to change the fare table," he said.

"It's unimaginable that a random contractor staff [member] could [have] the authority or approval or capability of changing the fare table."

The Transport and Logistics Bureau, for its part, described the incident as "unacceptable".

The bureau said it urged the Transport Department to follow up on the blunder seriously, and meet with the service provider as soon as possible to demand an explanation on the relevant procedures and look at ways to further strengthen internal monitoring.

Under the new time-varying toll arrangement, from Monday to Saturday, motorists will see fees for using the Western Harbour Crossing go up to HK$60 at a rate of HK$2 per two minutes, and HK$40 at the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and Eastern Harbour Crossing.

Fares will drop at the same rate outside the busiest hours.

A simplified version of the charging scheme applies on Sundays and public holidays.
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Last updated: 2023-12-18 HKT 21:07