Five taxi companies which were awarded licences to operate taxi fleets will roll out the long-awaited service next week, according to the secretary for transport and logistics.

Writing on her blog, Mable Chan added the fleets will serve customers with a range of new electric vehicles. She and the fleet operators will meet the press in an official launch ceremony on Monday.

The taxi fleet regime was introduced last year as part of the government’s efforts to improve the sector's service quality.

The scheme drew keen interest with 15 applicants. Three of them did not meet the prescribed requirements, such as having a driver monitoring system and the provision of online hailing services.

The remaining applicants were then vetted by an assessment panel, and five who emerged as winners were each granted a five-year licence.

Chan also gave updates on the government’s push to adopt new energy vehicles.

She said the Transport Department has approved 152 domestic and 409 international electric vehicle models as of the end of 2024.

Earlier amendments to the Road Traffic Regulation meant to enable certain features of these vehicles also took effect today.

They include remote parking, which Chan expects to be well-received by many drivers.

"Hong Kong's land resources are precious, with many parking spaces being quite compact. You may have seen videos showing skillful parking manoeuvres ... sometimes drivers even need to exit through the sunroof," she wrote.