Transport minister Mable Chan on Sunday said the government would strengthen its oversight towards ride-hailing services to ensure quality.

The Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-hailing Service) Bill 2025 was gazetted earlier in September with the aim of introducing a regulatory regime for ride-hailing services and safeguarding the public's safety.

Speaking on a TVB programme, Chan said the administration might suspend or revoke the licences of platforms and drivers if their performance are unsatisfactory.

"Depending on the severity of incidents, penalties and various measures will be imposed [to platforms and drivers]. The government will also adopt a smart approach. We will not track every piece of data, but will conduct random inspections and request data from platforms when necessary," she said.

Chan said that her bureau would refrain from setting out regulations that are too harsh in the main body of the legislation, which may hinder the market's free development.

But she said the government would reserve the right to introduce additional requirements in subsidiary legislation or licensing conditions.

Meanwhile, when asked how the bureau would give out licences when applications exceed the limit, Chan said the Transport Commissioner would deal with the matter appropriately.

The minister added that ride-hailing licences should not become tools for speculation, and that the permits would not be allocated through bidding to avoid undermining the original intent of introducing the regulatory framework.