Transport Secretary Mable Chan said on Saturday she hopes that simple licensing procedures – and reasonable fees – will prevent the creation of a secondary market for ride-hailing licences.

Under the proposed regulatory framework, platforms, vehicles and drivers will all need to obtain renewable licences.

The secretary also told a HOY TV programme that the administration hopes to set licensing fees at a reasonable level to avoid scaring off investors.

“The government has considered various factors when making decisions on fees for licences,” Chan said.

“For ride-hailing platforms, we will require them to provide financial proof as part of the application process.

"We will take reference from different places on how they set fee levels.

“As for drivers and vehicles, we don’t want to be too strict as it will dampen the desire of certain investors.”

The government is also proposing a cap be set on the number of ride-hailing vehicles after its study found that the ratio of ride-hailing cars to taxis is about 2.6 to one in Shanghai and 12.4 to one in Canberra, Australia.

When asked whether Hong Kong would aim for the number of ride-hailing vehicles to exceed taxis, Chan pointed out that both Shanghai and Canberra have more mature regulatory and operational environments and that such ratios emerged from the market itself without direct government intervention.

She said careful consideration is required on the part of the government in deciding on the initial cap on the number of ride-hailing vehicles and that adjustments have to be made over time to bring balance to the market.