Hong Kong police recruit volunteers to help passengers avoid taxis overcharging

Volunteers will help passengers at taxi ranks fill out information card detailing vehicle’s registration number, destination and estimated fare to help follow up on any complaints

Three-month trial run will be limited to Lan Kwai Fong, but police will consider expanding scheme to other areas

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Deputy District Commander Terry Law (second from right) has said some volunteers will be from a non-Chinese background. Photo: Eugene Lee

Published: 5:05pm, 3 Apr 2024Updated: 6:30pm, 3 Apr 2024

Hong Kong police will station volunteers at taxi ranks in parts of the city’s nightlife areas during peak demand hours on weekends for three months in a bid to clamp down on drivers overcharging passengers.

From midnight to 5am on Saturdays and Sundays, a volunteer will help passengers at taxi ranks on Wellington Street and Stanley Street in Central fill out an information card detailing the vehicle’s registration number, destination and estimated fare before each journey.

“In case they have any complaints against the taxi driver, they can use [the card] as a means for complaints,” Terry Law Kwok-hoi, deputy district commander of the Central police district, said on Wednesday.

The scheme, which would begin this weekend, would operate on a trial basis in Lan Kwai Fong, the city’s most prominent nightlife area and a popular tourist attraction, before authorities would consider expanding it to other areas, Law said.

Volunteers would be recruited by the Central and Western District Road Safety Campaign Committee and some would be from a non-Chinese background, he added.

A demonstration of how the scheme using volunteers and cards will work. Photo: Eugene Lee

Overcharging by cabbies has come under the spotlight recently after some tourists took to social media to complain and police have carried out undercover operations to catch offenders.