Hong Kong authorities may use their right to control ride-hailing prices to prevent excessive and reductive competition, or involution, the Post has learned, but a lawmaker warned that this could cause legal problems and suggested regulation through controlling the number of licences issued instead.
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A source familiar with the matter told the Post that the government may, under an existing section within the Road Traffic Ordinance, set a minimum price for ride-hailing services to avoid involution among the city’s ride-hailing platforms, which currently includes Uber, Tada, Amap and Didi Chuxing.
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The ordinance currently states that the chief executive “may make regulations to provide for the fares which may be charged on any public service vehicles other than buses operated under a franchise … and the fees which may be charged for the hire of a public service vehicle”.
Hong Kong’s transport authorities on Thursday unveiled its proposed regulatory framework for legalising ride-hailing services, which included a licensing system and set requirements for vehicle age and insurance, in a move to end more than a decade of the industry operating in a legal grey area.
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Apart from licences for the ride-hailing platforms themselves, individual drivers and vehicles would also need to obtain their own separate permits.