The head of the Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office (TACO) on Wednesday said that 18 fixed penalty notices were issued over the past two days, as part of an operation to combat illegal smoking at public transport facilities

Dr Manny Lam told an RTHK radio show that more than 100 inspections were carried out during the period.

"We do not have specific criteria on the number of fixed penalty tickets issued. Whether more or fewer are issued depends on many factors and situations," he said.

"For instance, this time we have carried out a law enforcement operation in a high profile manner. We believe this increases public awareness of the law. We hope to increase the public's knowledge of tobacco control legislation through this operation."

The six-day operation that kicked off on Monday came ahead of an expansion that will see 10 more public transport facilities designed as no smoking areas starting August 31, bringing the total to 272.

Signs and banners have been put up in the sites, such as the Exhibition Centre Station public transport interchange in Wan Chai to alert the public, Lam said, and a review will be carried out after the operation.

Officers will also distribute leaflets at border checkpoints and use social media to alert inbound travellers about the expansion of no smoking areas, the doctor said.

Lam also noted there was a surge in the number of fixed penalty noticed issued after most officers from the TACO started carrying out operations in plainclothes instead of uniform or TACO vests two years ago.

"The effect of this is quite marked in terms of the law enforcement efficiency. If we look at the figures when there were no drastic changes in the number of inspections, we issued more than 6,000 fixed penalty notices in the whole of 2022. And in 2024, the figure rose to some 13,000. This is mainly due to the change in law enforcement strategy," he said.