Taxi-hailing hotline to terminate service this week

One of the three hotlines for hailing taxis, 28939939, will terminate its operations at the end of this week, after operating in the city for 22 years, local broadcaster TDM Radio News reported. The termination of the hotline service is the result of substantial annual losses and competition from car-hailing application services, according to the vice president of the Commercial Vehicles’ Owners Association, Leng Sai Vai. He estimates that around 80 per cent or some 1,000 taxi drivers in the city using the service will be affected. The hotline receives around 600 to 700 phone calls for taxi-hailing daily, but Mr. Leng said only around 60 per cent of requests are successful – usually during non-peak hours.