Guangzhou Moves to Fine Loud Phone Audio on Subway

Guangzhou has published a draft regulation that would allow police to fine passengers up to 1,000 yuan (about $140) for playing phone or tablet audio aloud on public transport, part of a broader effort to curb noise pollution in one of China’s largest cities. The Guangzhou Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee released the consultation draft on September 16, opening a public comment period that runs until October 15, with a third reading and vote scheduled for October 2026, The Paper reported.

Context: Filling a Regulatory Gap

The proposal would revive a dedicated local noise rule that Guangzhou has lacked since it repealed its previous noise regulation in January 2019. In the interim, authorities had to rely on national and provincial laws plus municipal enforcement rules, leaving responsibility allocation unclear and enforcement inefficient, according to Nanfang Metropolis Daily.

As early as 2020, officials were calling for substantially higher fines and stronger sanctions. The draft is the culmination of that effort, setting out 28 articles that govern industrial noise, nighttime construction, vehicle noise, commercial activity, public-space activity, and indoor renovation, and detailing legal liabilities for each.

What the Draft Says

The most widely reported provision concerns electronic devices on public transport. Under Article 16, paragraph 3, passengers must not play sound aloud from phones, tablets, or other devices on buses and subways. The full draft text, reposted from the Guangzhou People’s Congress Legal Work Committee, states that if a passenger refuses to stop after being discouraged by transport staff, public security may persuade and educate the person, issue a warning, and impose a fine of 200 to 1,000 yuan. As Guangzhou Daily noted, loud phone audio not only drowns out station announcements for other riders but also disturbs their peace.

The measure is one of several in the draft. The proposal sets fines of 100 to 1,000 yuan for driving a vehicle to deliberately rev or speed noisily, and 200 to 2,000 yuan plus possible license suspension for driving a vehicle with a tampered or removed muffler. Using high-powered loudspeakers in noise-sensitive zones could draw 200 to 1,000 yuan for individuals and 2,000 to 20,000 yuan for organizations. Square-dancing groups that ignore venue rules face the same individual penalties, while indoor renovation outside permitted hours draws 500 to 1,000 yuan for individuals and 5,000 to 20,000 yuan for firms. Unpermitted nighttime construction carries the heaviest fines, from 20,000 to 100,000 yuan.

The draft also establishes a complaint channel through the 12345 government service hotline, requiring the responsible department to arrive on site within two hours, and mandates that penalty information for noise violations be logged in the public credit system.

Why This Case Matters

The proposal gives teeth to an earlier prohibition. The revised Guangzhou Urban Rail Transit Management Regulations, which took effect January 1, 2024, already banned playing electronic device audio aloud in metro facilities as one of nine prohibited behaviors. But a field report by Yangcheng Evening News found the behavior remained common despite signage and broadcast reminders, and some passengers described intervening or complaining as difficult. The 2024 rule relied chiefly on staff discouragement with no dedicated fine — a gap the new draft closes by adding a police warning and a monetary penalty.

Guangzhou is not the first Chinese city to act. Shanghai adopted similar transit rules in 2020, and Beijing has also prohibited audio playback on public transport. The Guangzhou draft is notable for specifying a concrete fine range and for tying enforcement to the transport staff’s initial intervention. Noise has become a persistent urban grievance: a 2022 national report cited in a Sina Finance article found noise disturbance accounted for 45 percent of all environmental complaints, second among pollution categories.

What’s Next

The public can submit comments by letter to the Legal Work Committee in Yuexiu District, by email to fgwbgs@gz.gov.cn, or through an online form, all by October 15. Because the regulation still requires a third reading and vote, its provisions — including the discretionary wording that police “may” impose a fine — could change after consultation. If passed, the rules would create an enforcement model that other Chinese cities weighing similar measures could watch closely. For now, Guangzhou’s proposal signals that the quiet-carriage principle is moving from signage and polite requests toward law.