From midnight to 5am on Saturdays and Sundays, a volunteer will assist passengers at taxi ranks on Wellington Road and Stanley Road in Central fill out an info card detailing the automobile’s registration quantity, vacation spot and estimated fare earlier than every journey.
“In case they’ve any complaints towards the taxi driver, they’ll use [the card] as a way for complaints,” Terry Legislation Kwok-hoi, deputy district commander of the Central police district, mentioned.
The scheme, which might start this weekend, would function on a trial foundation in Lan Kwai Fong, the town’s most outstanding nightlife space and a preferred vacationer attraction, earlier than authorities would take into account increasing it to different areas, Legislation mentioned.
Volunteers can be recruited by the Central and Western District Street Security Marketing campaign Committee and a few can be from a non-Chinese language background, he added.
Overcharging by cabbies has come beneath the highlight lately after some vacationers took to social media to complain and police have carried out undercover operations to catch offenders.
Ought to Hong Kong legalise ride-hailing apps? Critics slam taxis, urge adjustments
Ought to Hong Kong legalise ride-hailing apps? Critics slam taxis, urge adjustments
Legislation revealed the pressure had carried out 32 operations focusing on overcharging on Hong Kong Island within the first three months of the 12 months, arresting 5 drivers, inspecting 12 taxis for suspected unauthorised augmentation of taximeters and issuing greater than 140 penalty tickets.
Taiwanese vacationers Mina Hsu and Zoe Chang, each 19, mentioned the brand new measure would make them really feel extra reassured when taking taxis in Hong Kong.
Whereas Hsu and Chang described their experience from Repulse Bay to Causeway Bay as a easy expertise with a pleasant driver, Chang mentioned she had gone the additional mile to go looking how taxi fares had been calculated within the metropolis to make sure she wouldn’t be scammed.
“We’ll really feel extra reassured with the knowledge card, as we aren’t accustomed to how fares are calculated right here,” Hsu mentioned.
A taxi driver stationed close to Lan Kwai Fong, who gave his surname as Chan, mentioned the measure would higher defend the popularity of law-abiding drivers.
“Everybody is aware of that some black sheep [of the industry] function in Lan Kwai Fong, and we don’t need that,” Chan mentioned. “We welcome this measure, as our enterprise will profit from extra folks coming to take taxis.”
However resident Joey Pathak-Dubey questioned the influence of the scheme given its restricted scope.
“In my private expertise it’s quite common for taxi drivers to overcharge within the [Lan Kwai Fong] space, however numerous them are usually not on the taxi stands themselves,” Pathak-Dubey mentioned.
Extra Hong Kong taxis to simply accept cashless funds beneath trial for brand new meter
Extra Hong Kong taxis to simply accept cashless funds beneath trial for brand new meter
The 25-year-old Indian software program engineer mentioned a taxi driver had as soon as demanded HK$200 for a late-night journey from Hollywood Street to Caine Street within the Mid-levels final October.
“Pals of mine have had comparable experiences,” Pathak-Dubey mentioned. “It’s particularly extra frequent for the drivers to cost gouge for those who clearly appear to be a foreigner.”
Whereas the presence of the volunteers may sign to drivers that police had been listening to the issue, the method of reporting overcharging must be easy to encourage passengers to reveal offenders, he added.