Hong Kong taxi union threatens 5-day strike if city fails to clamp down on Uber

An influential taxi union will send an ultimatum to the Hong Kong government to demand a clampdown on illegal ride-hailing services run by operators such as Uber and Amap, and is threatening to hold a strike for five days next month.

The Hong Kong Tele-call Taxi Association said it held an internal meeting on Tuesday, where about 80 per cent of its 30,000 members primarily agreed to go on strike if authorities did not respond to its demands.

The union planned to write to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and the Transport Department to call for a halt to the operations of unregulated ride-hailing platforms and the prosecution of drivers offering services without a hire-car permit, it added.

It is currently illegal in Hong Kong for drivers of private vehicles to accept paid customers without a hire-car permit, with many ride-hailing platforms such as Uber, Tada, Amap and Didi Chuxing operating unregulated. Amap is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.

Taxis that joined these ride-hailing platforms are deemed legal as cabs are licensed.

“The government has kept turning a blind eye to illegal ride-hailing platforms,” association chairman Wong Yu-ting said.