Private driving instructors have criticised the government's licensing system for creating a duopoly and artificially inflating prices.
League of Social Democrats legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip and representatives of private driving instructors' associations presented their views yesterday at a meeting with Commissioner for Transport Alan Wong Chi-kong.
The Road Traffic Ordinance allows the government to limit the number of private instructors' licences, but despite the current limit of 1,410, Mr Chan said the Transport Department had not issued enough new licences, with fewer than 750 private instructors currently operating.
At the same time, he said the government placed no limit on the number of instructors employed by the two approved driving schools - the Hong Kong School of Motoring and the Kwun Tong Driving School.
'The pool of private driving instructors is shrinking because of ageing,' Mr Chan said. 'The average age is 68. The other reason is that the government is not taking the initiative to issue new licences to replenish the ranks.'
Since 2001, the government has limited the number of private instructors' licences for private cars and light goods vehicles to 1,050. The quota for buses and coaches is 130, while that for trucks is 230.