Taxi rank volunteers will help keep fares fair in Hong Kong
- The scheme that will see volunteers provide taxi passengers with an estimated fare before their journey is a small but meaningful step in deterring gouging by unscrupulous drivers who damage the image of both the industry and the city
Everyone seems to know someone with a horror story about hailing a taxi after a night out in Hong Kong only to wind up being gouged for a fare four or five times what should be on the meter.
For tourists and business travellers unfamiliar with fares and distances it can lead to an unsavoury experience that tarnishes the city’s reputation and leaves them less inclined to visit again.
So when Hong Kong police set out to fight the practice, we can only welcome the move.
For three months, police plan to station volunteers at taxi ranks in Wellington and Stanley streets near the city’s bustling Lan Kwai Fong district, a hotspot for drinking and dining and a prominent destination for tourists.
From midnight to 5am on Saturdays and Sundays, a volunteer will help passengers hailing taxis at those ranks fill out a card with the vehicle registration number, destination and the estimated fare before their journey.
Hong Kong police recruit volunteers to help passengers avoid taxis overcharging
If passengers have complaints about the taxi driver, they can use the information on the card to support their case, said Terry Law Kwok-hoi, deputy district commander of the Central police district.
The scheme launches this weekend and officials would see how it goes before considering whether to expand to other areas, Law said.
Of course, the most unscrupulous fare gougers may simply avoid those taxi ranks, but hopefully some will be deterred, and honest drivers will welcome the effort for helping burnish the image of the city’s taxi fleet, which makes 720,000 journeys every day.
Naturally, the volunteer scheme cannot tackle the problem alone. Police conducted 32 operations to target overcharging from January through March, leading to five drivers being arrested and more than 140 penalty tickets, Law said.
In January a 41-year-old driver was arrested on suspicion of charging an undercover officer HK$100 (US$13) for a trip that should have cost HK$27.
Having the volunteers on the case is a small but meaningful step to help deter this despicable practice. As more visitors arrive from abroad for business and cultural conferences, the Hong Kong Sevens and other events, tourists will pour into the hotter nightspots like Lan Kwai Fong.
Let’s hope these intrepid volunteers can help make their trip home an affordable one, and their stay in the city a pleasant one.
