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01 Forum. Hong Kong's new direction | Quality travel can win three

2022-04-19T23:07:32.032Z


In the latest consultation paper on the Legislative Council Panel on Transport - Enhancing Personalised Point-to-Point Transport Services, the Government proposes to "improve the operating environment of the taxi industry and at the same time enhance the efficiency of personalised point-to-point transport services".


In the latest consultation paper on the Legislative Council Panel on Transport - Enhancing Personalised Point-to-Point Transport Services, the Government proposed to "improve the operating environment of the taxi industry, at the same time enhance the overall quality of personalised point-to-point transport services, and reform the taxi industry. ".

Specific proposals include increasing taxi fares, introducing a taxi fleet management system, increasing the maximum number of passenger seats in taxis, introducing a demerit point system for taxi drivers and a two-tier system of penalties, and increasing the penalties for illegally hiring or receiving passengers by car.


Among them, the proposal to "increase the penalty for the use of a motor vehicle to illegally hire or carry passengers for reward" deserves attention. The consultation paper proposes to "increase the maximum fine from the current level 2 fine ($5,000) for first conviction and the second level for re-conviction. Fines at level 3 ($10,000), increased to fines at level 3 ($10,000) and fines at level 4 ($25,000) respectively; and an extension of the period for suspension of vehicle licences and vehicle impoundment from the current first The three-month sentence for conviction and six months for re-conviction are increased to six and 12 months, respectively.”


Contributing Author: New Directions in Hong Kong


According to Hong Kong law, it is illegal for a white-plate car to carry passengers without a license, and Hong Kong has only had a quota of 1,500 private service taxi licenses for a long time.

Undoubtedly, under the current legal framework, the vast majority of private cars that provide point-to-point transportation services through online booking platforms have no room for legal operation.

But it is worth pondering that, since the car-hailing began to appear in the Hong Kong market in 2014, it has grown from strength to strength. What is the driving force and underlying logic behind this?

And can the government completely put an end to illegal operations just by raising the penalties for drivers?

How can we strike a balance between meeting social needs, promoting market progress, and taking care of the interests of practitioners in a fair and reasonable manner?

Citizens crave high-quality point-to-point transport services

Many Hong Kong citizens believe that there is still much room for improvement in the service level of the existing taxis in Hong Kong.

Complaints about taxis rose from 7,997 in 2010 to 11,000 in 2018, according to the Transport Advisory Committee's Transport Complaints Unit.

Many studies and data show that Hong Kong citizens believe that there is still room for improvement in the existing taxi services, and they also have great expectations for breakthroughs and reforms in point-to-point transportation services.

In addition to the service level of "behaviour" (such as refusal of boarding and overcharging of fares, etc.) that cannot meet the needs of citizens, the level of service in "hardware" areas such as vehicle comfort, number of seats, and convenience of car-hailing for peer-to-peer transportation There are richer and more diverse needs.

It is precisely because of the objective existence of such a strong demand that even though online car-hailing is generally more expensive than traditional taxis and fails to operate legally, a large number of citizens are still willing to choose related services.

"Treating the symptoms but not the root cause" further intensifies conflicts

The above situation is never sustainable.

The emergence of online car-hailing platforms such as Uber has indeed enriched the choices of consumers. In the past few years, the new crown epidemic has had a great impact on local employment in Hong Kong. In the face of underemployment and rising unemployment, shared transportation has also brought many unemployed people. Citizens alleviate short-term employment problems.

According to the data, during the epidemic, the number of Uber registered drivers increased instead of falling, and the most cited reason for registration was to make up for the loss of income caused by the epidemic.

However, due to the nature of its illegal operation and lack of supervision, it has also brought various problems: for example, the lack of protection for passengers (including drivers) in the event of a traffic accident, the possible oversupply caused by the absence of a statutory threshold for entry, "the cost of no supervision" ” unfair impact on the traditionally regulated taxi industry and more.

Therefore, the government must realize that it is impossible to completely eliminate the existence of online car-hailing simply by raising the current penalty.

In fact, even though the police have stepped up enforcement efforts in recent years, Uber’s business in Hong Kong has continued to expand. Under the premise that consumers have a strong demand for improving the service quality of point-to-point transportation, legislation has been implemented from the source to allow illegal business to return. Under the sun, it will better realize the benign operation of the market.

Refer to the experience of other regions


Consumers, traditional taxis and shared transportation can be a triple win

Many taxis in the taxi industry are worried that online car-hailing will cause more intense competition. During the epidemic, the passenger flow has already decreased, and more intense competition means further narrowing of the living space.

The concerns of the taxi industry are understandable, but is shared transportation the enemy of traditional taxis and can only fight to the death?

In fact, it is not. Drawing on the experience of other countries and regions, consumers, traditional taxis and shared transportation can achieve a win-win situation.

One of the methods is that the government issues a certain number of new licenses to the car-hailing platform according to the actual demand space of the market, so that the drivers/owners who join can legally carry passengers and get paid. Traditional taxis provide differentiated services (such as high-end sedans, 7-passenger services, etc.), and licensing revenue can be transferred to existing taxi owners.

Another approach is to require ride-hailing platforms to collect tax on each ride, with the tax paid to existing taxi owners.

For example, the practice in New South Wales, Australia.

Uber was also strongly opposed by the taxi industry in New South Wales, Australia in the early years. However, after research and discussions, the local government established a regulatory framework for the car-sharing platform, by charging Uber and other point-to-point transportation services at $1 per trip. (approximately HK$5.69) "Passenger Service Tax", which uses the proceeds to aid the traditional taxi industry.

Regarding such a proposal, the "Green Paper on Hong Kong Economic Policy" published by the Department of Economics and Finance of the University of Hong Kong on January 15, 2021 also advocated.

And the supervision of online car-hailing platforms should not be lost.

In fact, all countries and regions that allow shared transportation to operate legally have laws regulating shared transportation vehicles and platforms.

For example, in the mainland, all drivers of online car-hailing are required to undergo background checks. Both the car-hailing and the driver must be registered first, and business licenses will be issued by the relevant departments.

Shared transportation platforms are regulated by laws in terms of labor security, user information security, pricing, payment and settlement, etc.

In July 2016, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China and other departments issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Taxi Service Management", and the online car-hailing service was included in the government's supervision.

According to the "Interim Measures", the online car-hailing platform company should obtain the "Online Taxi Booking Business License", the vehicles engaged in the online car-hailing business should obtain the "Online Taxi Booking Transportation Certificate", and the drivers engaged in the online car-hailing service should Obtain the "Online Taxi Booking Driver's License", which is also known as the three licenses for the online car-hailing business.

In September 2021, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China further issued the "Notice on Maintaining a Fair Competition Market Order and Accelerating the Compliance of Online Car-hailing", which requires speeding up the process of promoting the compliance of online car-hailing and promoting the healthy and sustainable regulation of the online car-hailing industry. develop.

These include not allowing new access to non-compliant vehicles and drivers, speeding up the removal of non-compliant drivers and vehicles, and announcing the compliance rate of online car-hailing in 36 central cities every month.

For cities where eligible vehicles and drivers have not been compliant due to problems such as delays in licensing, the list of cities will be disclosed to the public.

In Singapore, in 2017, the amendments required that all online car-hailing drivers must obtain a license (Private Hire Care Driver's Vocational License, referred to as PDVL). Year (Class 3/3A).

Drivers must take a PDVL training of up to 10 hours and pass a road and passenger safety exam.

Drivers are required to retake the review class every 6 years, and there is a driver deduction system.

From the experience of other countries and regions, shared transportation does involve many problems, and these problems can be solved through legislative regulation.

These issues themselves are not excuses for ignoring citizens’ demand for quality travel.

To embrace innovation, enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness, meet the needs of the public, and resolve conflicts between different interests, the government needs to play a more proactive role.

People-oriented, active and proactive can achieve good governance and good governance

High-quality travel is an important part of high-quality people's livelihood.

A "promising government" should fully understand the needs of citizens, put people's livelihood first, and actively seek changes.

However, the government has always been reluctant to really touch on the backward aspects of reform policies, tying its hands and feet, and even "shirks" the governance issues that belong to the economy and people's livelihood to the judiciary. Less than the fact that the ride-hailing market continues to exist.

As a result, Hong Kong's development of online car-hailing is far behind the world's major cities and the mainland, and it has also exacerbated conflicts between different stakeholders.

In a benign market environment, there should not be a fundamental contradiction between the demand for high-quality travel and the traditional taxi industry.

With the growth of Hong Kong's population, the continuous increase in the number of tourists, and the trend of an ageing population, the mobility of the elderly is restricted, and the demand for point-to-point car services will continue to increase.

Therefore, we strongly advocate and hope that the government can change its thinking, do not hide its deceit, and re-develop the regulation of online car-hailing services from the source, so as to satisfy the ever-increasing consumer demand and create opportunities for the development and upgrading of the traditional taxi industry.

People's livelihood is no trivial matter. If Hong Kong wants to start anew, those in power must put the people first in all aspects, be proactive, and must no longer succumb to outdated thinking and interest groups and just get by.

The members of New Directions Hong Kong come from all over the world, including lawyers, engineers, architects, doctors, principals, university professors, teachers, social workers, psychologists, journalists, directors, information experts, accountants, bankers, entrepreneurs, etc.

The title was proposed by the editor, and the original title was "Where to go for high-quality travel, positive and positive can win three-win".


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Raising fares or insufficient fleet system makes taxis go far

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-04-19

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