Hong Kong authorities have unveiled highly anticipated proposals to regulate ride-hailing services, marking a significant milestone for a sector that has existed locally in a grey area for a decade. However, unanswered questions remain on the proposed new regulatory regime, with figures for quotas on ride-hailing vehicles, a levy on trips and assorted fees not…
A mainland Chinese visitor has been remanded in custody pending his trial in Hong Kong for allegedly offering ride-hailing services without a hire car permit. Ye Hai, 41, was escorted to Kowloon City Court on Wednesday to face three charges after police scooped up the defendant a day earlier in a sting operation targeting private…
Nearly 80 per cent of 4,800 Uber drivers polled in Hong Kong are worried that a strict quota or high licensing fees under coming new regulations for ride-hailing platforms will threaten their livelihoods. The results of the poll conducted by platform operator Uber in June were revealed on Tuesday, just days after Secretary for Transport…
A regulatory proposal on ride-hailing services in Hong Kong will be submitted to the legislature before the end of the month, the transport minister has said, months earlier than the original plan amid calls to accelerate the process. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Sunday that the authorities would provide more comprehensive…
A Hong Kong court has quashed a government decision to refuse hire car permits to two prospective Uber drivers seven years ago, rejecting authorities’ contentions that the move could open the floodgates for ride-hailing services and private vehicles to operate as “pseudo-taxis”. In a written judgment handed down on Thursday, the High Court found the…
Hong Kong’s leader has rejected a proposal from the taxi industry for the government to repurchase licences that have depreciated in recent years due to competition from online ride-hailing services, saying the documents have always given cabbies exclusive rights. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Tuesday that online ride-hailing was an “irreversible trend”,…
Hong Kong’s taxi trade and ride-hailing services can coexist and survive together, the transport chief has said, pledging to prioritise the public’s travel needs in the coming regulation of online platforms. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan made the reassurance on Saturday, a day after more than 30 disgruntled taxi drivers demonstrated outside government…
Hong Kong authorities have warned ride-hailing platform operators to ensure their services are legal ahead of a meeting with them, as more than 30 disgruntled taxi drivers gathered outside the city government headquarters to petition for tougher law enforcement against illegal services. The Transport and Logistics Bureau issued a statement on Friday morning expressing concerns…
It is hard to pick any winners out of the latest futile round in the battle between Hong Kong’s point-to-point transport services, or taxis and ride-hailing vehicles. Customers can claim to be winners from cancellation of ill-advised industrial action by some taxi drivers but, in the bigger picture, they remain losers from uneven standards of…
It is hard to pick any winners out of the latest futile round in the battle between Hong Kong’s point-to-point transport services, or taxis and ride-hailing vehicles. Customers can claim to be winners from cancellation of ill-advised industrial action by some taxi drivers but, in the bigger picture, they remain losers from uneven standards of…