3 Hong Kong taxi drivers banned for 3 months under demerit points system

Three Hong Kong taxi drivers have been disqualified from driving cabs for three months after accumulating 15 demerit points or more under a penalty system in place for two years, the transport chief has said, disclosing such figures for the first time.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Wednesday that since the mechanism took effect in September 2024, 229 taxi drivers had incurred demerit points as of October 2, with 125 cases involving a refusal to accept a hire.

In a reply to a question from lawmaker Chris Ip Ngo-tung, Chan said the three drivers had been disqualified for three months after incurring 15 demerit points or more on the Taxi-Driver-Offence points system - the first time authorities revealed this figure.

Under the system, taxi drivers will receive three, five or 10 demerit points for each of the 11 types of misconduct and can be disqualified from driving a taxi for three months if they accumulate 15 points or more within two years. Repeat offenders face a six-month suspension.

Overcharging passengers, refusing or neglecting to accept a hire, refusing or neglecting to drive to a location indicated, and defacing, damaging or altering the meter, incur the maximum 10 demerit points.

Those who accumulate 10 points or more have to complete an improvement course.

As of August this year, the Transport Department received 5,944 complaints about taxi drivers, including 605 that involved “refusing a hire”, 860 concerning overcharging and 874 about taking an indirect route.

Amid concerns that New Territories residents struggle to find green taxis during peak hours and face repeated refusals when switching to urban, or red, taxis, Chan pledged to review green taxis’ service arrangements such as providing more taxi ranks in the Northern Metropolis megaproject and at port areas.

Hong Kong has 18,163 taxis, including 2,838 green New Territories ones.

“In the future, we will continue to optimise the operational arrangements for New Territories taxis,” Chan said.

“The government will conduct timely reviews on the permitted operating areas of New Territories taxis. For example, operating areas of green taxis have been expanded to cover the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Hong Kong Port and the Hong Kong Port Area of the recently commissioned new Huanggang Port.”