7.3 Core Obligations: Accept Hire, Route & Passengers

7.3 Core Obligations: Accept Hire, Route & Passengers

Quick Answer: Without reasonable excuse, a taxi driver must not: (i) wilfully refuse or neglect to accept hire (express or implied); (ii) refuse or neglect to drive to the place the hirer indicates; (iii) refuse or neglect to carry the number of passengers required (not exceeding licensed seating capacity); (iv) drive other than the most direct practicable route to the destination; (v) when hired, permit any person other than the hirer to enter without the hirer's consent. These map to high TDOP exposures — commonly taught as 10 points for refuse-hire / refuse-destination style offences and 5 points for wrong route / extra person without consent.

Section 7.2 covered animals, lost property, and seat belts. This section is the heart of §XIV.1 public-service duties: when you are a taxi driver available for hire or already hired, the law expects you to serve, go, carry, route fairly, and protect the hirer's exclusive use of the hiring.

The "Without Reasonable Excuse" Frame

Every limb below is framed as something the driver must not do without reasonable excuse. That phrase is exam-critical:

• It is not a free pass to invent excuses ("I don't like that district," "too short a fare," "rain," "I am waiting for a better airport job").
• It does leave room for lawful reasons recognised by the Booklet and related rules — for example, a passenger who refuses a required seat belt (Section 7.2), a hire that would exceed licensed seating, a destination the vehicle cannot lawfully serve as that taxi type, or other genuine legal/safety impossibilities.
• On the Written Test, prefer answers that treat refuse-hire as serious non-compliance unless a clear Booklet-backed excuse appears in the stem.

(i) Accept Hire — Express or Implied

Without reasonable excuse, the driver must not wilfully refuse or neglect to accept hire, whether the hire is:

• Express — clear words or unmistakable engagement ("Take me to Tsim Sha Tsui," hand raised and accepted, stand engagement completed), or
• Implied — conduct that in the circumstances amounts to hiring even without a full speech (classic stand / hail patterns where the first ready taxi is engaged).

Wilfully refuse or neglect

• Refuse — positive rejection of a lawful hire.
• Neglect — failing to accept when duty requires acceptance (for example, ignoring a proper engagement while claiming to be free).
• Wilfully — intentional non-compliance, not a pure accident of misunderstanding after good-faith clarification.

Link to stand rules (Chapter 5)

At a taxi stand, the first taxi's driver should accept when engaged; others must not jump the hire. Cross-harbour stands may refuse non-cross-harbour destinations under their special rule. Those stand doctrines refine when a hire must be accepted; they do not authorise general "cherry picking" of only long fares in ordinary stands.

High TDOP signal

Wilful refuse-hire style failures are taught as high-point offences — 10 TDOP points in the usual teaching map for refuse hire / related destination refusal patterns. Treat them as career-threatening, not customer-service soft skills.

(ii) Drive to the Place Indicated by the Hirer

Without reasonable excuse, the driver must not refuse or neglect to drive to the place indicated by the hirer.

Once hired to a destination the hirer names, you must go there (subject to lawful road limits, vehicle operating area, and genuine impossibility). Classic failures:

• Accepting the hire then refusing the named place because it is "too far," "too near," or "inconvenient"
• Driving only part-way and demanding the passenger alight early without a legitimate reason
• Substituting a different destination the driver prefers

The hirer indicates the place; the driver does not redesign the trip for personal preference. Refuse destination patterns sit with refuse hire in the 10-point TDOP teaching band.

(iii) Carry the Required Number of Passengers (Within Capacity)

Without reasonable excuse, the driver must not refuse or neglect to carry the number of passengers required, provided that number does not exceed the licensed seating capacity of the taxi.

Teaching stack:

So if the hirer requires four seats and four is within capacity, refusing "I only want one passenger" without reasonable excuse fails this limb. If the hirer requires seven, you must not overload — capacity law caps the duty.

Exam balance: serve up to capacity; never exceed capacity.

(iv) Most Direct Practicable Route

Without reasonable excuse, the driver must not drive other than the most direct practicable route to the destination.

Unpack the words:

• Most direct — the route that fairly minimises unnecessary diversion; not a sightseeing loop, not a tunnel detour for the driver's private convenience when a practicable shorter route exists.
• Practicable — not a fantasy straight line through closed roads. Road works, lawful closures, congestion management, and genuine traffic conditions can make an alternative the practicable direct choice.
• To the destination — the route duty is destination-focused, not "whatever keeps the meter interesting."

What the exam is hunting

• Deliberate long-way-round driving to inflate the fare
• Ignoring a clearly more direct practicable route without justification
• Confusing "I know a scenic way" with "most direct practicable"

Wrong-route style non-compliance is commonly taught at 5 TDOP points (lower than refuse-hire's 10, still serious). Always pair route duty with honest taximeter use and overcharge awareness from Chapter 6.

Practical communication (still lawful)

Explaining a diversion forced by a closed road or police direction is consistent with "practicable." Choosing a longer tolled path solely to harvest return-toll or distance without passenger need is the wrong spirit and risks both route and overcharge problems.

(v) No Extra Person Without Hirer's Consent

When the taxi is hired, the driver must not permit a person other than the hirer to enter without the hirer's consent.

Meaning:

• The hiring is for the hirer (and the hirer's accompanying party as part of that hire).
• A stranger, friend of the driver, or another intending passenger must not be invited in mid-hire unless the hirer consents.
• This protects safety, privacy, and the commercial exclusivity of the paid hiring.

"Share the ride with my friend who is going the same way" without the hirer's consent fails this limb. Teaching map: extra person without consent → 5 TDOP points class of offence.

TDOP Mapping (Study Snapshot)

Exact TDOP schedules are drilled in the dedicated TDOP chapter; for §XIV.1 conduct, memorise the severity pairing used in this guide's teaching:

Why the split makes sense: denying service or destination strikes at the core public-hire obligation; route abuse and cabin intrusion are serious integrity/safety failures scored one band lower in the common teaching table.

Reasonable Excuse — Worked Contrasts

Closing Checklist for Section 7.3

1. Five limbs: accept hire; go to indicated place; carry required number ≤ capacity; most direct practicable route; no extra person without hirer's consent.
2. All framed without reasonable excuse — excuses must be real and Booklet-aligned.
3. Hire includes express or implied engagement.
4. Capacity ceiling six / licensed seats — serve within it, never above it.
5. TDOP teaching: 10 for refuse hire/destination cluster; 5 for wrong route / unconsented extra person.
6. Seat-belt and stand special rules are structured exceptions, not general cherry-picking rights.

Section 7.4 turns from "what you must not refuse" to how you must behave when available or hired: no soliciting, cleanliness, honest fare/route information, change float, e-payment duties from 1 April 2026, safety precautions, no smoking, no obstruction, and giving particulars on lawful demand.