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The Uber logo is displayed on a mobile phone in Hong Kong. Years since the ride-hailing app came to the city, police officers are still clamping down on unlicensed private hire driving. Photo: Winson Wong
OpinionLetters

Letters | Singapore regulates ride-hailing services. What’s stopping Hong Kong?

  • Readers discuss the regulatory quagmire facing ride-railing operators in Hong Kong, and the need to review taxi driver performance
Hong Kong transport
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Recently, the police arrested an unlicensed private hire vehicle driver en route from Sha Tin to the airport. Undercover officers are doing their best to clamp down on private drivers doubling as taxi drivers, when the free market has already spoken: many prefer to pay a premium to be taken to their exact destination in a safe and helpful manner without any need for cash.

While I fully appreciate the cost associated with a taxi licence or daily taxi rentals, my sympathy stops there. Technology, service expectations and global solutions to taxi licensing regimes have overtaken Hong Kong.

As it is now 10 years since Uber first came to Hong Kong, how long can we remain with our heads in the sand when international business expects to be able to rely on Uber, Grab or even Didi of our motherland? If Singapore and mainland China can regulate ride-hailing services, why can’t we?

Callan Anderson, Mid-Levels

Review taxi driver performance strictly

I read with concern of the tragic loss of life due to a collision between a taxi and a bus.
When will the taxi industry realise and act upon its members’ poor driving skills? Frequent reports of taxis being involved in accidents only heighten the need for the government to get serious about the sector above and beyond a demerit points system for poor behaviour, which should include demerits for driving unbecoming of a professional.

It is incumbent on professional drivers to perform at a higher standard than non-professionals. Their performance should be reviewed at least twice annually and their driving skills recertified annually in a strict testing regime.

Time for the government and Legislative Council to address the unacceptable performance of the industry and make it a world-class service.

Simon Constantinides, Sai Kung

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