People will be able to book and pay for a taxi on the Octopus App in future.

The Octopus card company on Wednesday said the “Easy Ride” service will initially cover 300 taxis from a fleet operated by Big Boss Taxi Company.

At an event announcing the partnership, Octopus head of transport business Nora Tang said there are plans to extend the service to the other four government-licensed taxi fleets.

“We are currently in discussions with them. In this event, we hope to attract all these partners to join the Octopus Easy Ride network,” she said.

No start date for the new ride-hailing service was announced.

Alex Chiu, chief operating officer of Big Boss Taxi, said its fleet would begin services by the end of July and it is hiring drivers.

“We’ve been recruiting drivers from non-taxi industries as well, including bus drivers, minibus drivers, and whoever is interested in experiencing driving as a ‘Team Boss’. They will always be welcome to join us,” he said.

Chiu added that there will be extra booking fees for more luxurious cars, but charges for standard taxis will be close to market prices.