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Following is a question by the Hon Christopher Chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (November 20):
Question:
I have recently received a complaint from a taxi association, alleging that quite a number of taxi drivers offering fare discounts to passengers (commonly known as "discount gangs") are soliciting business by making use of taxi-call service mobile applications, which can be downloaded by the public for free. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of taxi drivers convicted of offering fare discounts in the past five years, and the highest penalty imposed on them by the court; whether it has taken measures or actions to combat the business practices of discount gangs, so as to safeguard the livelihood of those taxi drivers who charge fares according to taximeters; if so, of the details;
(b) regarding the discount gangs' practice of using mobile applications as a platform for soliciting business, of the measures the authorities have in place to combat such business practice; and
(c) given that some members of the public and members of the taxi trade have pointed out that as the discount gangs often check the screens of their smart phones for messages and operate their mobile phones manually to reply clients' calls while driving, traffic accidents are prone to occur as a result of distraction, whether the authorities prosecuted any taxi driver of operating smart phones while driving in the past three years; if so, of the details; and whether measures are in place to curb using mobile applications by taxi drivers while driving?
Reply:
President,
Taxis play a key role in our public transport service network. There are currently over 18 000 taxis in Hong Kong, providing personalised, point-to-point and more comfortable public transport services to the public. The average daily taxi patronage is about 0.9 million. The Government has all along been striving to assist the trade in maintaining quality taxi services. In terms of legal framework, taxi operation is regulated by the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) and its subsidiary legislation. The Police take vigorous enforcement actions against malpractices, and the Transport Department (TD) reminds the taxi trade to abide by the law through close communication with them. TD also disseminates information to passengers through different channels.
The reply to various parts of Hon Christopher Chung's question is as follows:
(a) & (b) According to the "soliciting" behaviour prescribed under regulation 40 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374D), if any taxi driver or his/her representative in any manner attracts or endeavours to attract any person in order to induce such person to make use of his/her vehicle, he/she commits an offence and is liable to a maximum fine of HK$10,000 and imprisonment for six months. Having regard to the above regulation, any taxi driver who offers fare discounts on his/her own initiative to induce passenger(s) to make use of his/her vehicle is engaging in "soliciting" activities.
Based on the information provided by the Police, the number of taxi drivers prosecuted for "soliciting" behaviour during the past five years is shown in the table below. The maximum fine imposed by the court is HK$4,000.
Year
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2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
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No. of 101 103 52 27 51
taxi drivers
prosecuted for
"soliciting"
behaviour
It is worth noting that after the implementation of the taxi fare structure that increases short-haul fares and lowers long-haul fares from late 2008, i.e. fare per kilometre for long-haul trips is lower than that for short-haul ones (for instance, an urban taxi journey of above nine kilometres is classified as a long-haul trip while that of less than nine kilometres is a short-haul one), the situation whereby a taxi driver would offer fare discounts on his/her own initiative has become less prevalent.
The Government is aware that mobile applications have recently been used as a platform for hiring taxi services. The Police are following up on whether any such applications are being used by taxi drivers to offer fare discounts.
In case of any suspected "soliciting" behaviour as described above, members of the public should take note of the date, time and location of the incident as well as the vehicle registration number, etc., and pass such information to the Police for follow-up and investigation. If it is confirmed that a taxi driver offers fare discounts on his/her own initiative to induce passenger(s) to make use of his/her vehicle, the driver may have been engaged in "soliciting" activities irrespective of whether such activities happen on a mobile application platform. The Police will take enforcement actions.
Meanwhile, TD maintains close communication with the taxi trade and reminds drivers not to break the law through various channels. They include regular publications of the Taxi Newsletters, distribution of promotional leaflets and regular meetings with the trade. TD also reminds passengers through, for example, posting notices inside taxi compartments that they should pay taxi fares according to the meter as required by the law.
(c) The table below shows the number of taxi drivers prosecuted for using mobile phones/telecommunications equipment while holding them in their hands when driving in the past three years.
Year
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2010 2011 2012
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No. of taxi drivers 952 880 960
prosecuted for using
mobile phones/
telecommunications
equipment
while holding them
in their hands
when driving
If drivers violate traffic regulations or pose danger to other drivers or road users because they are operating smart phones while driving, the Police will take enforcement actions (for example, against offences such as careless driving) in accordance with the Road Traffic Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation to ensure road safety.
Ends/Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:57
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