Originally Posted by Steve M

I don't think you understand the protocol of the dishonest taxi drivers in HK: they don't open the door until you tell them where you're going. If they don't like the answer, they just drive off. You can't make them open the door. Also, the ones that do this often have their "for hire" dashboard sign lit up, but have the "Out of service" tent put over it, so it's difficult to prosecute the offence even if the police do become involved. I just thought of a solution to this: give them an answer that they will like and open the door for you, and then once inside tell them the real destination and do the threat as you state above if they balk. I wouldn't feel too guilty about it, because the only situation where you'd give a false destination would be to a dishonest driver that asked for it before they opened the door.

I know you live there, but by your own admission, this means that you're not doing the typical touristy things, so you may not be aware of the extent that this is going on. The taxi drivers know that the tourists don't know what the law is, are unlikely to get the police involved, and even if that happens, are unlikely to show up at a hearing, so their risk of conviction is low. And, even though everyone knows it's a widespread problem, the regulatory mechanism is almost built to make it easy to appear that there are tough regulations but difficult to actually ensure compliance - which is just the way that several sets of vested interests like it.