Inflexible working hours, a lack of incentives and resistance to change are among the reasons Hong Kong’s premium taxi fleets are failing to attract drivers, industry representatives have said, after a trial run faced a spate of cancelled bookings.
Ho Chi-keung, who leads the Motor Transport Workers General Union’s taxi division, said on Wednesday that drivers were concerned about adapting to a structured way of working under the premium fleets.
“Working in a fleet might be more attractive to younger drivers. For the older ones, they might not enjoy being regulated or facing too many restrictions,” he told a radio show.
“They might wait and see if there are any incentives, such as how much the monthly salary is, the number of holidays on offer and how the employer-employee relationship will play out.”
Premium taxis operated by Joie, a subsidiary of major cab company Tai Wo Management, got off to a bumpy start when they hit the streets on Tuesday, as users were unable to get rides despite booking an hour in advance.
Under the government’s push to offer taxi services of higher quality, Joie and four other selected operators – SynCab Service, Big Boss Taxi Company, CMG Fleet Management and Sino Development – are required to begin operating about 3,500 licensed taxis by July.
