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

Reading Time:2 minutes

Published: 2:30pm, 19 Jan 2024

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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.