Combating Illegal Practices of Taxi Drivers (2015/12/09)

MR YIU SI-WING: President, as also admitted by the Secretary just now, taxi driver malpractices such as overcharging and failure to use the most direct and practicable route are getting increasingly serious. From media reports, I also notice that taxi drivers' malpractice of overcharging tourists has reached outrageous proportions, to the extent of undermining the world image and tourism reputation of Hong Kong.
I observe that in most cases, the sentences handed down are very light, requiring the payment of a fine only. Taxi drivers even regard the fine for overcharging as just part of the taxi rental payments.

I am not sure if the authorities have reviewed these cases of light sentencing, and lodged any appeal on the basis of the review. Nevertheless, the authorities say that they have not lodged any appeal so far. I would like to ask the authorities why they do not consider lodging any appeals when the situation is so serious. Is that because they have not conducted any review?

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING: President, the Police and the DoJ will consider the penalty handed down in each case in the light of the actual situation. If the sentence is considered too light from the perspective of the prosecution, a request for review may be filed under the existing system.

As I just mentioned in the main reply, the Police have not lodged any appeal against light sentencing over the past five years or so. Mr YIU urges the Administration to closely follow the issue of court sentencing. We will share his view with the DoJ. However, as I said in the main reply, the figures show that the Court will usually hand down a fine on first-time offenders, but repeated offenders will be given harsher sentences.
In regard to the trend over the past one to two years, the figures actually show an increase in both the severity of penalties and the number of prosecutions. This trend reflects that while the Police have stepped up enforcement, the Court has also tackled such acts in ways appropriate to the circumstances of each case. Anyway, the Police have already stepped up decoy operations against those malpractices drawing greater public concern. 

MR YIU SI-WING: President, the Secretary has not answered my supplementary question. My question is whether the authorities have conducted any review. Even though the Police have not lodged any appeal, the authorities must still review whether the sentences are too light and lodge appeals if necessary. It seems that he has not given an answer.

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING: President, in regard to the issue of sentencing in individual cases, as I said in reply to another Member, the Court must base its consideration on the actual circumstances of each case, and it is difficult for us to make generalizations. 
However, we do admit that overall, the number of complaints is on the rise. The Government is concerned about this and will …

PRESIDENT: Secretary, Mr YIU wants to ask whether the authorities have conducted any review. Please answer this question.

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING: As I said in the main reply earlier on, we do not see any need to raise the penalty level, as the existing penalty level can allow sufficient room for the Court to hand down sentences based on the seriousness of individual cases.