Hong Kong taxi drivers’ operations against Uber a reflection of frustration over years of ‘illegal activity’, union leader says

Public appeal to stop ‘undercover operations’ against Uber drivers does not seem to have quelled anger among cabbies, union principal vice-chairman says
Chong Wing-tak says taxi drivers are also disappointed at transport authorities for allowing Uber ‘to run rampant for so long’

Hong Kong transport

Wynna Wong

Published: 7:58pm, 27 May 2024

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Many Hong Kong taxi drivers believe the government has not done enough to quell their years of frustration over the “illegal activities” of Uber, and that they should not be blamed for taking matters into their own hands in “undercover missions” against the ride-hailing firm, a union leader has said.

Chong Wing-tak, principal vice-chairman of the Motor Transport Workers General Union, which represents 7,000 cabbies, said on Monday that the taxi drivers’ actions reflected their anger at Uber.

“Even though authorities urged us to stop conducting our own undercover missions because we did not go through proper training, this public appeal does not seem to have quelled anger among taxi drivers,” Chong said. “We continue to receive many complaints.”

Some taxi drivers launched a series of “undercover missions” earlier this month, filming themselves posing as Uber passengers and getting their drivers to stop at spots where they had called police.

It was the latest move in protracted bickering between the taxi trade and Uber since the ride-hailing giant arrived in Hong Kong in 2014.

Uber’s legal status has long been in question as the city lacks legislation solely for the regulation of ride-hailing apps.

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It is against the law for private vehicles to accept customers without a hire-car permit issued by the Transport Department, which most Uber drivers do not have. Previous attempts for them to apply for one were rejected by the commissioner for transport.

The operations sparked calls for retaliatory action on social media sites such as Facebook and the Reddit-like LIHKG, while Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu last week urged taxi drivers to stop their sting operations as they lacked the required training and legal knowledge.

But Chong said the recent actions by his peers were a reflection of their anger towards Uber’s “illegal activities” over the years, and disappointment at transport authorities, “who have allowed them to run rampant for so long”.

He said the government met the union in 2015 and 2017, and promised to work with the Department of Justice to ban illegal car-hailing platforms.

However, the Transport Department and law enforcement ended up taking a “passive approach” and conducted one or two operations “for show”, while the court only doled out fines to those who were arrested, Chong said.

“Our livelihoods have been greatly affected … justice delayed is justice denied.”

Chong added that while the union also did not encourage taxi drivers to conduct their own sting operations, he understood their anger in wanting police to make some “real arrests” that were not “predetermined”.

A government proposal to introduce stiffer penalties targetting unlicensed drivers is expected to be brought to the Legislative Council in July.

Taxi trade representatives said online users had been “sending hate” to the industry recently due to the impending bill, sparking renewed frustrations among drivers at a time when they were still struggling to recover from the pandemic and compete with “illegal services”.

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