Hong Kong’s first premium taxi fleet could launch as soon as March, according to the transport chief, but an industry representative said he was sceptical as financial, technical and manpower challenges could delay the start date.
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The city government issued five taxi fleet licenses five months ago in an effort to improve the industry’s service quality, requiring winning bidders to launch services with vehicles accounting for about 40 per cent of the entire fleet by the end of July.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said in a newspaper interview published on Friday that the first premium fleet could be rolled out as early as March, without specifying which operators were ready.
The fleet operators would be able to fix fees that are higher than the regulated rate for ordinary taxis, but were also required to offer perks such as online bookings, electronic payment options and complaint handling mechanisms.
One of the operators, SynCab, founded in 2015 by Chung Shing Taxi, had initially said they could begin service last September. It later said some of its new six-seat cabs started operating as regular taxis last month and a mobile app for booking would be available in February.
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Ng Kwan-sing, permanent president of the Taxi Dealers and Owners Association, told the Post that he was sceptical about the minister’s target, as he had learned that fleet operators were facing financing difficulties due to the mandate of using cabs which were three years or younger.