Massive taxi strike threat amid anger at unlicensed ride-hailing services

Ayra Wang

Thousands of Hong Kong taxi drivers and owners may launch a citywide strike as soon as March 5 if the government fails to crack down on unlicensed ride-hailing services, industry representatives have warned.

The strike threat came on the heels of a meeting on Tuesday night where over 80 percent of attendees endorsed a plan to suspend services for at least five days unless the government addresses long standing grievances regarding "white-license vehicles," a term for illegal ride-hailing services.

There are currently 18,163 taxis and over 200,000 licensed taxi drivers. However, only about 40,000 of these drivers are actively working, according to the latest data from the Transportation Department.

Wong Yu-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Tele-call Taxi Association, has been selected to present the industry's proposal to the Transport Advisory Committee on Wednesday.

An official strike announcement is expected after Wong's meeting with the committee if officials do not provide a "satisfactory response" by then.

Industry leaders will finalize the proposal by Sunday.

Their key demands include an immediate shutdown of unlicensed ride-hailing platforms and stricter prosecution of drivers and operators of such services.

"The government's heartless and unjust policies, along with 11 years of unfair competition, have driven down the value of taxi owners' assets, hijacked our businesses, and plunged most owners into negative equity - leaving them facing bankruptcy in the near future," their statement said.

The industry has also escalated its warnings, threatening to surrender taxi licenses en masse, halt bank mortgage payments and sue the government for financial losses if its demands are ignored.

ayra.wang@singtaonewscorp.com