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Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (November 12):
Question:
At present, quite a number of developers of mobile applications for taxi-call service (apps) offer, for the purpose of soliciting business, partial fare rebates to passengers using their apps to call taxis by various means, e.g. transferring cash to passengers' bank accounts, providing cash coupons redeemable at gift redemption centres, or offering credit card spending credit rewards through partner banks. Some taxi associations have relayed to me that as the aforesaid practices employed by the developers are in effect offering fare discounts to taxi passengers, taxi drivers not using the relevant apps are facing unfair competition. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that regulation 40 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374 sub. leg. D) provides that no taxi driver or person acting or purporting to act on behalf of a taxi driver shall in any manner attract or endeavour to attract any person in order to induce such person to make use of the vehicle, and regulation 57 provides that any person who without reasonable excuse contravenes regulation 40 commits an offence (offence of soliciting), how the authorities define "a person acting on behalf of a taxi driver" as referred to in regulation 40, and of the criteria adopted for that; whether the aforesaid developers are persons acting on behalf of taxi drivers according to such a definition; if they are, whether the authorities have assessed if the developers have committed the offence of soliciting by offering fare rebates to taxi passengers; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether the authorities have issued warnings or instituted prosecutions against these developers; if warnings have been issued or prosecutions have been instituted, of the details; and
(2) whether it has assessed the impacts of the apps on the operating environment of the taxi trade, and whether it will consider establishing a unified platform for taxi-call service, so as to ensure a level playing field for all taxi drivers?
Reply:
President,
Regulation 40 of the Road Traffic (Public Service Vehicles) Regulations (Cap. 374D) (the Regulations) has provisions to regulate taxi "soliciting" behaviour. Under the Regulations, no taxi driver or person acting or purporting to act on behalf of a taxi driver shall in any manner attract any person in order to induce such person to make use of the vehicle. Any person convicted of such an offence is liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 and imprisonment for six months. The Police have all along been taking law enforcement actions to combat taxi "soliciting". Meanwhile, the Transport Department (TD) seeks to raise the awareness among taxi drivers that they should abide by the law through communication with the trade and publicity and education.
The reply to the various parts of the Hon Kwok Wai-keung's question is as follows:
(1) Under the Regulations, any taxi driver or person acting or purporting to act on behalf of a taxi driver who offers a fare discount on his/her own initiative to induce passengers to make use of his/her vehicle is engaging in "soliciting" activities, irrespective of whether such arrangements are made through mobile phone applications (apps), telephone calls or other means. He/she commits an offence if there is no reasonable excuse.
The Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) and its subsidiary legislation do not provide for any express definition of the phrase "person acting or purporting to act on behalf of a taxi driver" referred to in the Regulations. According to legal advice, the brief description of the circumstances of app developers in the question alone is not sufficient to determine if they can be regarded as "persons acting on behalf of a taxi driver" under the Regulations. In handling each case of alleged contravention of regulation 40 of the Regulations, law enforcement officers have to take into account all the evidence, including the exact arrangements between the taxi driver and the app developer and/or operator concerned, the extent of knowledge and participation of various parties involved in arranging taxi service through the use of the app concerned, and other details of the case. Whether prosecution on grounds of "soliciting" can be instituted would depend on whether there is sufficient evidence to prove that the app developer/operator or the taxi driver involved has deliberately offered a fare discount through the app to attract passengers to use taxi service. Given that the facts of individual cases may vary, consideration has to be made on a case-by-case basis. Law enforcement authority would decide how a case is to be handled having regard to the particular facts of each case.
The TD and Police will keep a close watch on the use of taxi-hailing apps. So far, the Police have not issued any warning or instituted any prosecution on grounds of alleged use of such apps for taxi "soliciting" activities.
(2) Members of the public have all along been able to hire taxi service by phoning taxi-call stations. With the increasing popularity of smart phones and apps, the use of taxi-hailing apps is becoming more common. It is our understanding that some conventional taxi-call stations have teamed up with app developers to launch their own taxi-hailing apps. This kind of apps brings convenience to passengers and is by nature no different from the conventional way of hiring taxi service through taxi-call stations. Using taxi-hailing apps solely for hiring taxi service is not illegal in itself.
Taxi-call service has been available for years, and there are different platforms providing such service in operation. As it is purely a commercial arrangement driven by the market, the Government considers it inappropriate and has no intention to intervene. It is noted that the taxi trade have explored the possibility of establishing a unified platform for taxi-call service, but no consensus has been reached.
The TD will continue to closely monitor taxi operation, and maintain close communication with the trade to keep abreast of their operational needs and offer advice.
Ends/Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:36
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