The draft for the Currency Establishment and Issuance Legal System includes a direction to digitize the pataca and a proposal to adopt the digital currency as legal tender.
The draft law had been discussed at the Executive Council (ExCo) and the news was announced over the weekend at an ExCo press conference by its spokesperson, Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong.
Following discussions at the ExCo, the draft law’s text will be delivered to the parliament to go through legislative procedures.
In its statement, the ExCo stressed the digital currency will have the same status as traditional paper money and coins.
The ExCo added that special laws and regulations will be promulgated to support the law when it is passed.
Executive Regulations will determine the establishment of the currency, as well as the currency’s denominations, types and features. Chief Executive Dispatches will authorize the amounts of the currency’s first and subsequent issuances.
Current legal provisions state no business operator is obliged to accept more than 100 coins, regardless of their face value. The government used the opportunity of the draft law to propose the maximum number of patacas a business operator can refuse to accept be lowered to 50.
The government emphasized the necessity of the draft saying it aligned with the development of electronic payment tools and the change of public mode of consumption.
A penalty clause has also been added to the draft law against refusal of legal tender; it proposes a fine from MOP1,000 to MOP10,000.
The sale of commemorative paper money will also be legalized if the draft law is passed.
The new law is the latest in legislation that governs the city’s currency.
Before this draft law, the ExCo said, currency establishment and issuance had been supervised and authorized by the Decree-Law No 7/95/M, promulgated January 1995. It is likely the law will replace the current Decree-Law, as in many other precedents.
Contactless registry for 50 public car parks
At the same press conference, it was also announced that the ExCo had concluded discussions on the bill of the Public Parking Service System.
By the end of this year, 50 of the city’s 56 government-owned or commissioned car parks will be able to accept contactless entry and exit, Transport Bureau (DSAT) director Kelvin Lam Hin San said.
The ExCo spokesperson said the new bill is needed because the existing legal document is old: Executive Regulation No 35/2003 – Public Parking Service Regulations.
If passed at the parliament, the new law will amend the type of contract for the provision of public car park services. It will outline the rights and obligations of car park operators; regulate the use of public parking services; improve supervision and penalty; simplify administrative procedures; and adjust mode of payment for parking fees.
In addition to the gradual change in mode of car park entry and exit, Lam also promised new car parks will be opened this year in the Central, Mong-Ha and Concórdia Industrial Park districts.
The bill also proposed supplementary Executive Regulations be promulgated to moderate tender bidding, direct negotiations, conditions for operations and use, as well as charging schedules.
