Govt considering law amendment to handle ride-hailing

Transport minister Lam Sai-hung on Sunday said the government is looking into amending the law to handle unlicensed ride-hailing services in Hong Kong. Speaking on a television programme, Lam said he expects the quality of cab service to improve with the introduction of a licensed taxi fleet system, under which an online booking channel is a requirement. Asked whether online car-hailing platforms will be regulated, the secretary for transport and logistics said the authorities were still working on the matter, and they'll further discuss it with Legco and the sector next month. "We will see whether we can amend the law to make it easier and more effective to handle unlicensed ride-hailing services. At the same time, we will see how to manage online car-hailing platforms," he said. "We shall look into how this is done overseas. There are a lot of online car-hailing platforms on the mainland or in other Asian countries. We are looking into their laws and requirements for licences." Meanwhile, a survey found that about 75 percent of interviewees support legalising online car-hailing services. The New Youth Forum interviewed more than 800 people earlier this month, and it found that over half of the interviewees said they would use online ride-hailing services instead of taxis, if the price is similar. The group said introducing online ride-hailing could lead to fair competition, thus improving the service quality of taxis.