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The key to the coexistence of taxis and Uber lies in ``de-exploitation''

2021-01-22T23:43:46.317Z


The School of Economics and Finance of the University of Hong Kong published the "Green Paper on Hong Kong Economic Policy" last Friday (15th) to provide suggestions for the local economy. It mentioned that the government wants to reform the regulatory framework of the industry, and takes online car-hailing services as an example.


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Written by: Commentary Editing Room

2021-01-23 07:30

Last update date: 2021-01-23 07:30

The School of Economics and Finance of the University of Hong Kong published the "Green Paper on Hong Kong Economic Policy" last Friday (15th) to provide suggestions for the local economy.

It mentioned that the government wants to reform the regulatory framework of the industry, and takes the online car-hailing service as an example. It is recommended to compensate the existing taxi license holders in exchange for agreeing to the entry of competitors. The reform direction is generally correct, but why should the taxi license be compensated? Holder, but it is worth thinking about by society.

The current environment of the taxi industry cannot achieve a win-win situation. Only a few car owners win, and drivers and passengers lose.

Car owners have reduced the circulation of licenses through the purchase of license plates for many years, and the government has stopped issuing new licenses for many years, and has prohibited private car passengers from receiving rewards.

The above-mentioned factors cause the price and market of license transactions.

Even if the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the taxi license price to fall back to the 2011 level, the price is still as high as 4.5 to 5.2 million yuan, which is enough to buy a small private flat.

Most drivers find it difficult to buy a license and can only rent a car from the owner. Sometimes nearly half of their income is spent on car rental.

In order to earn more income to offset expenses, drivers are prone to picking passengers, going around, overcharging fares, etc., causing dissatisfaction among passengers.

Therefore, under the licensing system, drivers are not only losers, but the interests of passengers are also affected.

Withdrawal of the Premium Taxi Franchise Alliance rally to protest the government's proposal to establish a premium taxi franchise plan (photo by Zheng Zifeng)

License fees or taxes are transferable to car owners

To shake up the vested interests of the taxi industry, introducing competitors is a way of doing it.

The "Green Book" proposes to legalize online car-hailing and compensate the taxi industry at the same time.

One of the methods is that the government issues licenses to online car-hailing platforms, and the private cars under its jurisdiction legally carry passengers for compensation. The platform must promise to provide a certain number of services, and the license revenue can be transferred to the existing taxi license owners.

Another approach is to require online car-hailing platforms to collect taxes on each trip, and the tax will be allocated to existing taxi owners.

The two measures are aimed at reducing the backlash of car owners and drivers, preventing the expansion of car owners, and the government does not have to pay compensation.

In terms of supervision, online car-hailing should allow the taxi industry to act as shareholders or obtain partial ownership, so as to reduce resistance to new technologies.

In addition, when the government collects operating license fees from online car-hailing platforms, the operating power of taxis and online car-hailing platforms can be brought closer, and the competition will be fairer.

The Consumer Council advocates that the government gradually open up the online car-hailing market, but the Transportation and Housing Bureau said that it would first depend on the results of the Legislative Council's handling of franchised taxis before making a decision.

(Photo by Chen Zhuohui)

Reformed taxi industry radish with big stick

In order to reduce the resistance of the car owner, it is understandable to propose compensation.

However, since license plate holders are exploiting drivers and indirectly harming the interests of passengers, the cause of this problem should be resolved.

For example, the government can repurchase taxi licenses at a reasonable price while issuing licenses to online car-hailing vehicles, and set a time limit.

The government will re-issue the license in the future. The target is limited to drivers. The license is limited for a limited period and cannot be resold, and it must comply with the service quality requirements.

Several drivers can hold one card together, but one person cannot hold multiple cards, lest the production tools are again concentrated in the hands of a few people.

With regard to online car-hailing, the government must also establish service conditions to ensure transparent charges, protect the safety of drivers and passengers, prevent drivers from being squeezed by platforms, and avoid excessive overlap between taxi and online car-hailing services.

Furthermore, the government can use the introduction of the online car-hailing industry to attract peripheral technology application companies to Hong Kong and stimulate the local innovation and technology atmosphere.

A serious policy mistake of the government last year was to ignore the position of online car-hailing, so that Uber was personally let go, and the opportunity to enhance the image of a science and technology city slipped away.

The current three-loss situation can eventually become a win-win situation for drivers, passengers and online car-hailing platforms, and even benefit the innovation and technology industry, depending on whether the government is willing to do so.

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-01-22

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