Rogue Hong Kong cabbies must get point of new law
- Taxi drivers who give their colleagues and city a bad name face punishment under a demerit system that is sorely needed
The meter is about to start running on taxi drivers who embarrass their colleagues and the city with bad behaviour behind the wheel. The Legislative Council has passed a bill setting the stage for a demerit points system to be implemented next year.
The move should be welcomed and is long overdue. Public goodwill has fallen steadily as the industry idles or adopts half-measures in response to the challenge of ride-hailing services, which despite being illegal, are preferred by many customers.
By the third quarter of next year, drivers will face three, five or 10 demerit points if they are caught violating any of 11 offences. Overcharging and wilfully refusing or neglecting to accept a hire will receive 10 points.
Three or five points will be handed out for acts such as not using the most direct route or refusing to carry the requested number of passengers as long as within vehicle capacity. Accumulating 15 points or more within two years may mean disqualification from operating a taxi for three months – six months for repeat offenders.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Lam Sai-hung told Legco the system was needed to combat “black sheep” in the trade and improve the industry’s image. He said there was “much room for improvement”, with several thousand complaints regarding taxis received between 2020 and 2022.
Lawmakers who voted against the bill were concerned, with good reason, about whether it duplicated existing laws. Doreen Kong Yuk-foon also questioned the “determination and strength” of officials to crack down on rogue cabbies.
Predictably, drivers have tried to head off the scheme, threatening a strike last month that was only called off when the government agreed to take harsher action against app-based competitors, including Uber. Legco then passed another bill imposing stricter penalties on those who provide illegal ride-hailing services, and introducing premium taxi fleets and six-seater cabs.
Even supporters of the demerit system have admitted that collecting and providing proof of offences may be a challenge, but problems are only likely to grow if the brakes are not applied on the runaway loss of confidence in the taxi industry.
