Transport sector lawmaker Frankie Yick on Thursday called on the government to limit the number of online ride-hailing platforms available in Hong Kong.

In documents submitted to the legislature earlier this week, officials said they plan to regulate online ride-hailing services through a licensing system.

Speaking at a press briefing, Yick said the authorities should issue a licence to only one or two platforms.

"There are a number of these online car-hailing platforms available in Hong Kong. Now if you look around the other cities in the world, some of them have already controlled the number of these kinds of platforms available for the citizens to use," he said.

"The beauty of having a limited number of platforms, because the possibility of matching the services will be much better than if you split into a multi-number of these kinds of platforms. I think this is a very simple concept."

Yick also said that the drivers of private vehicles offering ride-hailing services through such platforms should obtain a licence, otherwise they and their passengers would not be covered by insurance.