HONG KONG– HONG KONG (AP)– Hong Kong legislators passed a costs Wednesday to regulate online ride-hailing services, needing systems like Uber, together with their automobiles and chauffeurs, to be certified, after years of reaction from the city’s taxi sector.
The initial accredited systems are anticipated to begin running in late 2026 at the earliest, authorities stated.
In approving a permit, Hong Kong’s transportation commissioner can take into consideration the company’s experience, economic ability and designated financial investments in the area. Certified business will certainly require to preserve “appropriate and effective” solutions and make sure all automobiles and chauffeurs on their systems hold legitimate licenses, according to the brand-new guidelines.
Motorists are needed to be at the very least 21, have actually held a personal automobile driving permit for at the very least one year and have no significant web traffic sentences within 5 years. They likewise require to pass an examination and take a pre-service training course.
The expense notes an essential action in the development of ride-hailing solutions in Hong Kong, which presently bans drivers of exclusive automobiles from giving paid solutions to clients without an authorization.
Uber Hong Kong invited the ballot results. “This choice notes a considerable turning point in incorporating ridesharing right into the city’s transportation system and making certain motorcyclists and chauffeurs gain from clear guidelines,” it stated.
Cops have formerly arrested some Uber drivers suspected of driving without a permit and in 2018, greater than 2 lots chauffeurs were fined.
Some taxi business have actually long stood up to on-line systems like Uber, seeing them as a danger to their service.
Uber, which began running in Hong Kong in 2014, has actually dealt with several lawful and regulative obstacles in its abroad development however continues to be prominent in the Eastern economic center, where lots of citizens are discouraged with what they call inadequate taxi solutions.
Authorities recommended a cap on the variety of automobiles supplying ride-hailing solutions under the brand-new guidelines, which will certainly be defined in a subsidiary regulation following year. If that regulation is passed, they will certainly welcome applications for licenses.
Uber Hong Kong stated it expected “useful conversations” on car allocation systems.
Any person that runs a ride-hailing system and supplies solutions without a permit will certainly deal with a penalty of as much as 1 million Hong Kong bucks (concerning $128,600) and an optimum prison regard to one year, according to the expense.
A system that organizes vehicles or chauffeurs without legitimate licenses to offer guests might be penalized by an optimum fine of 6 months jail time and a penalty of 10,000 Hong Kong bucks ($ 1,286) per offense on an initial sentence. For succeeding sentence, the optimum prison term would certainly double, along with a greater penalty.
