Cabbies scrap rally plan after mainland ride-hailing giants agree to talks 

Hong Kong taxi drivers have called off a rally scheduled for Friday (May 23), which was intended to urge the central government to assist in cracking down on illegal ride-hailing services provided by mainland operators Didi and Amap.

It is understood that around 20 cabbies had planned to gather outside government headquarters to petition for Beijing's intervention, which was initiated by the Chairman of the North West Area Taxi Drivers and Operators Association, Wong Wing-chung. 

Wong noted that the cancellation came after senior management from both companies agreed to discuss compliance measures with the SAR government.

He said he had previously written to the central government, inviting the companies to discuss their improvement measures in Hong Kong, and was informed on Thursday that discussions were underway.

"We no longer need to submit another letter tomorrow because action is already being taken," he said.

Meanwhile, Wong stressed that the mainland ride-hailing giants must not engage in illegal business activities and should cease operations immediately following instructions from the central government.

The taxi industry has been outraged over Amap's launch of car-hailing services, as the company had initially promised to offer only taxi-hailing services when it entered Hong Kong in May last year.

Around 40 representatives participated in a previous rally on May 16, submitting a petition signed by more than 5,000 taxi license holders to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

The city leader reaffirmed the government's commitment to addressing unlicensed hire cars and improving taxi services on Tuesday (May 20).