Govt unveils plan to improve HK's taxi services
The government says it will introduce a bill to Legco next week aimed at improving the quality of the city's taxi services. Proposals include lifting the cap on how many passengers a taxi can carry from five to six and introducing a penalty points system to punish bad driver behaviour. Drivers would face disqualification if they racked up too many penalty points for malpractice such as overcharging or refusing to accept a hire. “Such a mechanism seeks to send a timely alert to offenders at an early stage to prompt them to improve their service behaviour and attitude,” the government said. Owners could also be allowed to form their own fleets of taxis, but to get a licence for one they would have to provide a certain number of wheelchair-accessible vehicles, some "luxury taxis", as well as online booking channels and training to improve drivers' customer service skills.  The relevant bills will be gazetted on July 7, and officials hope the new penalty points system can be up and running in nine months' time.