Hong Kong cabbies plan 100-vehicle siege of government headquarters to protest proposed premium taxi scheme
Drivers demand to speak with government, threaten to step up action if calls are ignored
Plans are in place for more than 100 taxis to besiege the government headquarters in Admiralty on Tuesday in protest against a plan to introduce premium cabs through franchises, which the taxi trade says will hamper their survival in favour of big conglomerates.
The move is set to paralyse traffic around Tamar in the morning peak hours as the taxis will start to gather there at 8.30am. Transport minister Anthony Cheung Bing-leung is due to attend a Legislative Council transport panel meeting to discuss the trial scheme with lawmakers at 9am.
The Anti-Taxi Franchises Concern Group, comprising over 100 taxi owners and 59 taxi companies, has joined hands with other taxi groups calling for the government to scrap the proposed franchise scheme.
“As far as we know, 90 per cent of the city’s taxi drivers are very angry about this scheme. We will go to the government headquarters to express our demands tomorrow,” the group’s spokesman Chau Kwok-keung said.
“All along the government hasn’t consulted the taxi trade about this scheme. It’s so unfair to us. We will not rule out stepping up our action if our calls are ignored,” he added, urging the government to discuss with the sector how to improve service quality instead of introducing another scheme to divide the taxi trade.
Under the trial scheme, three premium taxi-operating franchises would be offered, with each allowed to run 150 to 200 taxis at higher fares. The aim is to provide premium services for passengers, and an alternative to the existing service offered by 18,000 ordinary taxis amid growing discontent over the bad conduct of drivers, including refusal to hire and cherry-picking of passengers.
Chau said the existing 40,000 taxi drivers were willing to be subject to the government’s regulations and upgrade their services to serve as the “premium” class.
“The trial scheme will not help improve the existing problems. All we need is to talk with the government on how to improve the taxi trade,” he said.
Under Secretary for Transport and Housing Yau Shing-mu called on the sector not to affect the traffic around the government headquarters with their protest, saying the government was willing to speak with the drivers.
