'Consider real-world demand in issuing licences'

The government needs to take real-time data on door-to-door ride-hailing services and the need to avoid transportation disruptions, Uber said on Thursday in calling for a higher initial quota to be set for licences for the sector. Officials have been collecting views from car-hailing platforms and the taxi trade before deciding how many ride-hailing licences to issue, Chief Executive John Lee said this week, adding that the government will take into consideration factors such as people's travel needs and road capacity to strike the right balance. According to a submission by the Transport and Logistics Bureau to Legco earlier, opinion remained divided among stakeholders, with different taxi operators suggesting anywhere from several thousand to at least 10,000 licences, while ride-hailing platforms called for an even higher number. Andrew Byrne, Uber's global head of public policy, said a cap of between 10,000 and 15,000 would be too low. "Our request is to take into account the real-world demand and level of service that people provide right now," he said. "And so, we have over 30,000 drivers who operate in Hong Kong who provide rides. A significant number of them are part-time and really value that flexible work opportunity. "We do think that if the government wants to avoid major disruption to the service that people in Hong Kong love and value, then they should absolutely consider the real-world starting point now when they consider making their decisions in the future." Uber also said licences should go first to drivers already relying on ride-hailing for a living, rather than being distributed through a lottery system. And it called on the government to set up a platform-managed blanket insurance policy, rather than requiring drivers to buy their own commercial insurance. Edited by Tony Sabine