A House to House and Street Collections (HHSC) licence is required (except when exempted) if you are collecting money or other property by way of appealing to the public, visiting house to house or soliciting in streets or other places or a combination of such means for money or other property.
Please note that a person intending to promote any collections should work with the beneficiaries.
Exemption
A House to House and Street Collections licence is not required if you are conducting any of the following:
- A private collection that is confined to friends or relatives
- Making an appeal through the telephone or the media such as the internet and newspapers; or sending out appeal letters by post
- A collection that is carried out by or for a beneficiary that is a registered or exempted charity, or the fund-raising appeal for foreign charitable purpose is by a person who has been approved by Commissioner of Charities (“COC”). However, you would need to comply with the Charities Act 1994.
The HHSC Act does not apply to collections made using unmanned collection boxes.
Therefore, no licence is required under section 4 of the HHSC Act, if there is no person using face-to-face means to actively reach out to any other person to encourage donations at such boxes.
For the avoidance of doubt, please note that nothing in this website or in any correspondence with SPF shall be construed as limiting or restricting SPF's ability to administer the HHSC Act or any other law, or exempting you from the provisions under any other laws.
You may wish to seek independent legal advice if you have any doubts.
