3.3 Receipt Printing Device

3.3 Receipt Printing Device

Quick Answer: Every taxi needs a receipt printing device that forms part of or connects to the taximeter and can print a fare receipt within 12 seconds. Receipts follow the Commissioner's Appendix 1 form (taxi number, times, kilometres, paid minutes, surcharge, total). If the printer fails, issue a manuscript Appendix 2 form. No device installed: owner faces $10,000 / 6 months. Improper issue: $5,000 / 6 months, plus TDOP 3 points for refusing or neglecting a receipt.

Passengers are entitled to a clear written record of what they paid. Hong Kong law treats the printer as part of the metered fare system — not an optional extra for "corporate clients only."

The Device Itself

Every taxi must have a receipt printing device that either:

• forms part of the taximeter, or
• is connected to the taximeter.

Standalone receipt pads that are not linked to the meter do not replace the required device (though manuscript Appendix 2 forms are the legal fallback when the device is out of order — see below).

When the device is working properly, it must print a fare receipt within 12 seconds. That time limit is a favourite numeric detail: distractors may say 5 seconds, 30 seconds, or "within a reasonable time." Memorise 12 seconds.

Owner offence — device not installed

If the required printing device is not installed, the owner commits an offence. The Booklet penalty framing is a fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for 6 months. Notice the subject of the duty: installation is an owner responsibility, even though drivers operate the printer day to day. That pairs with Section 3.2's theme that owners cannot outsource core equipment compliance entirely to whoever is behind the wheel.

What Must Appear on a Printed Receipt (Appendix 1)

Receipts must be on the form specified by the Commissioner — referred to as Appendix 1 in the Taxi Operation Booklet. Required content fields are:

Print appearance rules

The Booklet also specifies physical print standards:

• Letters and figures in black and blue
• Character height at least 2 mm
• White paper

Do not confuse 2 mm receipt characters with the 10 mm fare figures on the taximeter dial (Section 3.1). Different components, different minima.

A complete Appendix 1 receipt lets a passenger, operator, or enforcement officer reconstruct the charging logic: when the hire ran, how much distance and paid time accrued, what surcharge applied, and what total was collected.

When the Printer Is Not Working — Appendix 2

Devices fail. The law anticipates that with a manual pathway:

If the receipt printing device is not working, the driver must issue a manuscript receipt using the pre-printed form specified by the Commissioner — Appendix 2.

Practical exam points:

• Failure of the automatic printer is not a licence to skip the receipt.
• The driver completes the manuscript pre-printed form (Appendix 2), not a blank scrap of paper invented on the spot.
• You should still capture the same commercial substance of the journey so the passenger has a usable record.

Link this to Section 3.2: faults that affect the meter's accuracy or seal must be reported ASAP, and testing looks at both meter and printer. A dead printer is an operational and compliance problem, not merely an inconvenience.

Fare Scale Amended but Meter Not Yet Converted

Fare scales change by regulation. Hardware conversion can lag slightly behind the legal change. The Booklet rule is clear:

• You must still issue a receipt.
• Write the manuscript total under the revised scale next to the meter total.

So the receipt shows both the figure the (not-yet-converted) meter displayed and the correct total under the new scale. That dual notation protects transparency: the passenger sees what the machine said and what the lawful revised fare is. Never suppress the receipt because "the meter is out of date," and never silently charge a new total without documenting it.

Offence: Failure to Issue a Receipt Properly

Failing to issue a receipt in the proper manner is a separate offence from missing equipment. The Booklet penalty framing is:

• Fine of $5,000 and imprisonment for 6 months.

Compare this with the owner's $10,000 / 6 months exposure when no printing device is installed. Installation failure and issue failure are related but not identical offences — and the fine figures differ.

Taxi Driver Offence Points (TDOP)

In addition to the criminal-style penalty above, refusing or neglecting to issue a receipt is a Taxi Driver Offence Points matter: it attracts 3 points under the TDOP system. Points accumulate across specified taxi-driving offences and can lead to licence consequences when thresholds are reached (covered in the TDOP chapter). For this section, remember the pair:

1. $5,000 / 6 months for failing to issue properly, and
2. TDOP 3 points for refuse/neglect of receipt.

Exam writers may test either the fine figure, the imprisonment figure, the point value, or the dual nature of the sanction.

How Receipts Fit the Full Meter Regime

Think of charging compliance as a chain:

1. Approved, sealed taximeter (Sections 3.1–3.2) measures the fare.
2. Correct actuating positions ensure recording only when hire lawfully runs.
3. Receipt printing device (or Appendix 2 manuscript) proves the fare to the hirer within 12 seconds when automatic, or by hand when the device is down.
4. Appendix 1 fields standardise what "proof" means across the fleet.
5. Owner installs and maintains the chain; driver actuates the meter and issues the receipt.

Break any link — unapproved meter, broken seal, wrong position, missing printer, skipped receipt — and you are in offence territory, even if the cash amount charged "felt fair."

High-Yield Numbers and Labels

Study Tips for Part A Regulation Items

• Associate Appendix 1 with the printer and Appendix 2 with handwritten emergency use.
• Drill the field list until you can recite taxi number, start, end, total km, paid km, paid min, surcharge, total fare without looking.
• Keep 12 seconds, 2 mm, $5,000, $10,000, and 3 TDOP points in separate mental slots so you do not swap them under time pressure.
• When a scenario mentions a fare increase effective yesterday but a meter still on the old table, the correct behaviour is issue the receipt and manuscript the revised total beside the meter total — not refuse the hire or hide the discrepancy.

With Sections 3.1–3.3 complete, you can answer the full taximeter-and-receipts cluster: approval and construction, operating positions and seals, and passenger-facing receipts. Later chapters build on this foundation when they discuss fare scales, extras, and driver conduct at the end of a journey.