Lawmakers have urged the government to increase the number of permits for ride-hailing services, saying authorities have to ensure healthy competition.

The number of permits is currently capped at 1,500.

At a Legislative Council panel meeting on Friday, Roundtable lawmaker Michael Tien said the threshold to apply for a permit is too stringent, and that online ride-hailing services are a rising trend.

Another legislator, Chan Pui-leung, said the government should not keep online car-hailing services “on a tight leash”.

“We need to uphold one principle – regulation is meant to promote healthy growth of the industry,” Chan said.

Lawmaker Chan Siu-hung, for his part, said regulating such platforms should come hand-in-hand with issuing more hire-car permits.

“If [the administration] is just regulating the platforms without issuing licences, and if only taxis are able to provide personalised point-to-point business, then people would be discouraged from taking taxis because of their poor service quality,” the legislator said.

“If we don’t have enough competition in the market, people and tourists will be the losers… We don’t want to have an impression that the government is tilting in favour of the taxi industry.”

Transport chief Lam Sai-hung said the government's regulation plan does not favour the taxi trade, and the administration will “listen to opinions and look at data” when drawing up its legislative proposal.

“We want to ensure the safety of passengers and their rights, and also have to pay attention to the healthy development of the transport industry. I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive,” he said.

“If we want to see a healthy development of the industry, and given the two broad principles, we need to strike a balance.”

The administration is planning to regulate online car-hailing platforms by requiring them to obtain a licence to operate. Anyone found to be involved in providing illegal services could have their driving licence suspended.

Authorities will conduct a study to review passenger demand before presenting a legislative proposal next year.