Government is proposing to stop allowing drivers to accept fare-cut requests Taxi passengers could be penalised for soliciting discount fares if a consultation finds that drivers support an amendment to the law. Chief transport officer Ken Hui Kuen said yesterday that the government would meet taxi business representatives on December 11 to find out whether the industry wanted consultation on the change. The law currently penalises drivers who tout for passengers by offering discount fares, but according to the Road Traffic Regulation drivers cannot be prosecuted if they agree to a passenger's demand for a discount. The amendment is aimed at tackling the so-called '80 per cent gang' - drivers who offer at least 20 per cent discount to lure customers and undercut their rivals. Urban Taxi Drivers Association Joint Committee chairman Kwok Chi-piu said drivers were likely to want a consultation since many of them supported the amendment. He said that up to 90 per cent of the 40,000 drivers had been giving discounts to passengers, and about 7,000 had been doing so routinely. To Sun-tong, director of the Motor Transport Workers General Union taxi driver branch, also expects most drivers to support the amendment. 'I believe many drivers do not want to violate any law but many are forced to - if you don't do it, someone else will and then you lose business,' he said. But the Transport Department says its poll shows only nine of 27 urban taxi groups support the amendment. The government would not initiate any amendment unless there was a consensus among taxi groups, a Transport Department spokeswoman said yesterday. Mr Hui admitted the issue was 'a sensitive matter'. Hong Kong Tele-Call Taxi Association chairman Wong Yu-ting, who also represents New Territories taxi operators, criticised the government for putting the burden of tackling the problem onto the taxi industry. 'If you think something is right, then you do it,' he said. 'It's a waste of time to act after you have done your consultation and get a consensus.' Legislative Council transport panel chairman Andrew Cheng Kar-foo said the government should review its policy instead of waiting for a consultation, since it was a matter concerning the interests of the industry and the public. He said implementing the amendment would not be difficult because the public would know by then that it would be illegal to pay a discounted fare. 'It's about getting across the spirit of the law,' he said. Mr Kwok agreed, saying the public would not be so stupid as to risk prosecution for the sake of saving a few dollars.
