Top bid of 6.23 million patacas – 1 bid axed
The Transport Bureau (DSAT) announced in a statement last night that by the submission deadline of 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, it had received 47 bids for its public tender for the granting of 14 new eight-year company licences each of which will be allowed to operate up to 50 common taxis.
The statement said that after DSAT officials unsealed the 47 submitted bids and assessed their validity and eligibility in a meeting yesterday, the bureau decided to accept 46 of them, while it rejected one.
According to the statement, the prices offered by the 46 accepted bids range between 2.5 million patacas and 6.23 million patacas. The government set the minimum bid at 2.5 million patacas.
The granting of the 14 new company licences will enable up to 700 new taxis to serve the city.
Common taxis – as opposed to special radio taxis – are colloquially known as “black taxis” (“hak dik” in Cantonese), as the colour of the common taxis is black.
Currently, the city’s common taxis are either operated by licenced individuals or companies.
The tender for the 14 company licences was launched on June 3. Potential bidders were required to submit their tenders by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday this week.
According to the current law regulating the city’s taxi sector, which took effect in June 2019, only companies are allowed to bid for a licence to operate common taxis. Before the current taxi law came into force, common taxi-vehicle licences were granted to individuals.
According to the current taxi law, a single company is only allowed to hold up to 300 taxi-vehicle licences. A company must have a minimum capital of five million patacas to bid for a licence to operate common taxis. Only locally-registered companies are allowed to bid for the licences.
The ongoing tender process for the 14 licences, which was launched early last month, is the second tender since the current taxi law took effect in 2019.
The ongoing public tender will grant new licences valid for eight years to 14 companies to operate common taxis. Each winner can apply to operate up to 50 taxis.
Consequently, the public tender will grant up to 700 new common taxi-vehicle licences.
Each company can only bid for one taxi-operating licence comprising up to 50 taxis, with the minimum bid set at 2.5 million patacas. Each bidder was required to pay a deposit of 3.5 million patacas.
This time, the winning companies must use hybrid vehicles (powered by a combination of an internal combustion engine and an electric motor), or new energy vehicles (NEVs) such as electric vehicles (EVs), with a seating capacity of six or more passengers.
Moreover, all the new taxis must accept e-payments.
At least two of each winning company’s 50 new taxis must be wheelchair-accessible ones.
The 46 accepted bids will now be assessed based on three criteria, namely the proposed price accounting for 60 percent of the score, the proposed plan for how to run its fleet of taxis accounting for 34 percent, and the proposed percentage of the employment of local residents in relation to the total number of employees (six percent of the total score).
Before the current taxi law took effect in 2019 – when common taxi-vehicle licences were granted to individuals, those who proposed the highest bids were granted a licence during a public tender.
Yesterday’s DSAT statement said that the government is now aiming to complete assessing the 46 accepted bids and announce the 14 winners in the next quarter.
The bureau expects the 700 new taxis to gradually hit the roads in the second and third quarter of next year.
A taxi is driven along Rua dos Mercadores in the city centre yesterday. – Photo: Tony Wong
