Outraged taxi groups threaten to sue Hong Kong if it allows ride-hailing services as watchdog recommended
Coalition claims Consumer Council failed to condemn illegal operations of firms such as Uber
Outraged by a Hong Kong Consumer Council report urging the city to legalise ride-hailing services, the taxi industry on Thursday threatened to sue the government if it followed the watchdog’s recommendations.
“We are now seeking legal advice,” Don Li Lam-cheung of the Association for the Rights of Liberty Taxi Drivers revealed. “If the government actually adopts the Consumer Council’s suggestions to legalise ride-hailing firms in Hong Kong, we won’t rule out launching a judicial review against the government as such a policy would hurt the taxi industry.”
“The Consumer Council’s report is very unfair to us as under this new platform ride-hailing operators don’t need to pay for any licensing fees while taxi operators need to dish out about HK$7 million (US$896,000) to purchase a taxi licence,” he added.
Another group, the Association for Taxi Industry Development, formed by taxi firm owners and involving 5,000 taxis, declared it would launch a signature campaign from Friday for the city’s 40,000 taxi drivers and the community. The group wanted the council to review its stance on the issue.