Ride-hailing | Committee receives over a thousand public submissions; about 70% believe 10k quota is insufficient, suggest raising or even removing the cap.

The Legislative Council Subcommittee on Subsidiary Legislation Related to the Regulation of Ride-hailing Services invited stakeholders to submit opinions on the relevant legislation by July 15 on June 8. According to our newspaper's tally of approximately 1,120 public submissions, about 70% believe that 10k ride-hailing licenses are insufficient and suggest raising or even removing the cap. The authorities reiterated that the quota of 10k is prudent and stable, and they will review whether adjustments are needed in due course.

The Transport and Logistics Bureau submitted a document to the Legislative Council yesterday (June 30), stating that the committee received a total of 1,221 submissions, of which 25 were from groups, including transportation organizations; ride-hailing platforms Uber and Gaode Taxi; taxi groups such as the Hong Kong Taxi Council and the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, etc. The remaining submissions were from the public. Excluding dozens of documents restricted to committee members only, our newspaper tallied approximately 1,120 submissions, of which at least 763 people, or nearly 70%, believe that issuing 10k ride-hailing licenses is insufficient or oppose setting a cap on the number of licenses.

Some citizens described issuing 10k licenses as "out of touch with reality," expressing concerns about increased waiting times and negative impacts on travel experiences for residents and tourists. The public proposed raising the quota to between 15k and 50k. Other citizens believe that 10k quotas are too conservative and suggest removing the cap, allowing the market to adjust freely. Some opinions stated that issuing 10k licenses is too many, posing excessive impact on the taxi industry, and suggested issuing only 2,000. They also recommended that ride-hailing licenses should be prioritized for current taxi drivers to apply.

Uber reiterated that the cap of 10k licenses is below the travel demand of citizens, urging the government to re-examine or dynamically adjust the cap before the full implementation of the regulations. Didi Chuxing supports starting with 10k licenses and suggests the government continuously refer to market supply and demand changes, waiting times, etc., to review the system's operation based on actual conditions.

Bureau Says It Has Fully Heard Opinions and Will Review Based on Data in the Future

In response to opinions that the cap of 10k licenses is insufficient to meet ride-hailing service demand, the Transport and Logistics Bureau stated that the government has fully listened to opinions from all sectors of society and comprehensively considered point-to-point service demand data, believing that the current quota is a prudent, stable, and appropriate approach to ensure a smooth implementation of the ride-hailing service regulatory system. The government will refer to data submitted by platforms in the future, conduct comprehensive dynamic assessments, and review whether adjustments to the number of ride-hailing vehicles are needed in a timely manner.

The Bureau also pointed out that ride-hailing vehicles must complete a specified number of trips within a designated period for their vehicle permits to be renewed, but there will be no restrictions on the online hours of ride-hailing drivers, retaining greater flexibility to allow drivers to provide services and adjust capacity according to their own operational needs and market demand.