The Department of Transport Services of the Ministry of Transport ("MOT") has recently drafted and issued the Circular on Strengthening and Standardizing Administration of the List of Dishonest Market Players Subject to Joint Disciplinary Actions in the Taxi Industry (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by May 25, 2018.

The Draft for Comment introduces separate criteria for determining the lists of dishonest market players subject to joint disciplinary actions, respectively for cruising taxis and online-hailed taxis. The Draft for Comment expressly states that for online-hailed taxis, the market player may, in the first step, be labelled as a target under close attention to its credit standing, if it is found to have any of six acts, such as "engaging in online car hailing business activities directly or in a disguised manner in private, without the business licensing from the platform, the vehicle or the driver, amounting to a serious violation". If it refuses to make corrections within six months from the date it was included into the list of targets under close attention, it shall be then brought, under applicable procedures, into the list of dishonest market players subject to joint punishments. Furthermore, the Draft for Comment sets out respective work procedures for collecting names of market players, determining, submitting, initially publishing and officially publishing the name list, and removing market players from such name list.

(Source: Ministry of Transportation)