Macau (MNA) – On a public consultation held on a revision of the legal framework for migration controls and residence permits, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) suggested that when a house is rented to non-residents, this information should be sent to the Public Security Police (CPSP) as a way to fight illegal pensions.
The legal revision proposes that anytime a non-resident guest checks-in and out of hotels in the city, the hotels will have to inform police authorities, something the MGTO thinks should be extended to any property or even a room rented to a non-resident.
In response to the proposal, authorities stated this proposal would have to be made upon the revision of the current regulations prohibiting the illegal provision of accommodation.
The consultation heard the opinions of several government departments and 82 people from the hotel sector.
Currently hotels already have a legal duty to register data relating to customers, including name, nationality, type and number of the identification, place of residence, date and time of arrival and departure.
However under the proposed law review, hotels will be mandated to send these data ‘through safe means’ within 48 hours that a non-resident guest over 16 years of age checks-in and out from the property.
According to the report the only concern the hotel sector expressed was in regard to the safety of this data, asking authorities to ‘strictly’ process this information in accordance to the Data Protection Law.
Authorities also stated that in the case of smaller scale hotels and pensions, that still only use handwritten records, in order to register the customer data the the government will allow a transition period for the properties to register the data electronically.
Until then, these properties will have to transfer the data to the migration authority by fax.
