HONG KONG — of The Hong Kong government is seeking to regulate on-line car-hailing platforms by licensing and imposing harder penalties on unlawful ride-hailing companies, a transfer that’s more likely to have a significant influence on tech companies like Uber.
Transportation officers despatched a doc Monday to the Legislature, asking lawmakers to check the proposal additional. Officers additionally mentioned they’d additional consider and iron out particulars, corresponding to licensing necessities and the variety of autos that may be plyed by on-line platforms. The authorities plan to finalize the legislative proposals someday in 2025.
Hong Kong's taxi trade has lengthy resisted on-line platforms like Uber, seeing them as a menace to its enterprise.
In Hong Kong, it’s unlawful for personal car drivers to supply paid companies to clients with no license. The police have previously arrested several Uber drivers suspected of driving without a license and in 2018, the town's courtroom system fined greater than two dozen drivers.
Uber, which started working in Hong Kong in 2014, stays a preferred selection in a metropolis the place many residents are pissed off by poor taxi companies.
The San Francisco-based firm has confronted many challenges in its abroad enlargement by assembly quite a few authorized and regulatory challenges.
Within the doc, the federal government mentioned it hopes for a “win-win” scenario for the transport trade and passengers by licensing and an enchancment within the high quality of taxi companies.
To additional curb unlawful ride-hailing companies, the town's transportation authorities additionally proposed that when a automotive is discovered to offer paid companies to clients with no license, judges can impound the car and droop its license — even when they will't be lifted expenses in opposition to the driving force.
Uber welcomed the transfer by Hong Kong authorities to manage ride-hailing platforms, but additionally warned in a press release that it was “essential for the federal government to accompany this step with an enforceable licensing regime”.
The assertion additionally mentioned that limiting the variety of “trip sharing licenses” might be a blow to many drivers who depend on the platform for versatile incomes alternatives.
Lawmakers are anticipated to debate the federal government's proposals on Friday.