Editorial | Cancelled taxi strike in Hong Kong highlights the need for government action

It is hard to pick any winners out of the latest futile round in the battle between Hong Kong’s point-to-point transport services, or taxis and ride-hailing vehicles. Customers can claim to be winners from cancellation of ill-advised industrial action by some taxi drivers but, in the bigger picture, they remain losers from uneven standards of service across the whole sector.

They could be forgiven a sense of having seen it all before as events unfolded: a taxi union threatened a five-day drivers’ strike next month unless the government cracked down on illegal ride-hailing services such as Uber. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned against such “drastic” action that could be hijacked by people with ulterior motives. The industry then lifted the strike threat after Lee promised to enforce the law against illegal ride-hailing services.

Police using undercover officers as “passengers” subsequently began “intercepting” drivers suspected of having illegally carried passengers for money without a permit for hire, which can have insurance implications.

Some taxi unions threatened similar strikes in 2023, only to withdraw after the government promised to step up a crackdown. Meanwhile, many ride-hailing platforms such as Uber, Tada, Amap and Didi Chuxing have been operating unregulated. Amap is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.

Taxi drivers have done the right thing by themselves as well as the public by calling off the strike. The threat does nothing to enhance the industry’s battered reputation as a hospitable and reliable transport service, not to mention further alienating the public in the battle against increasingly popular ride-hailing services. The final flaw in the planned action was that a strike would turn more people towards ride-hailing services as a reliable choice.

The familiar pattern of threat and backdown circles back to the old issue of how long the government is taking to rationalise the point-to-point transport market and put the whole industry on a proper legal footing. The government repeatedly says it is studying the regulation of ride-hailing platforms, including supply and demand for point-to-point transport, and promised to put a legislative framework before lawmakers this year. The sooner the better. The public remains disillusioned with taxi services because they remain unsatisfactory. The strike threat reflects resistance to improvement while opposing anyone else who provides a better service.