Hong Kong’s Consumer Councilโ has criticized driving schools across the city for โfailing to provide theโ Transport Department‘s mandatedโ 30 hours of practical โdriving training in their basic courses, leading to โunexpected costs for students.
The council announced Monday thatโฃ a review โฃof 32 courses offered by 11 driving schools revealed โall fell short of the 30-hour requirement. Practice hours ranged from a lowโฃ of โ10 to a โฃhigh of 27โค hours and 45 โฃminutes.
This shortfall forces students to purchase additional lessons, inflating the โฃoverall cost. The council stated, “If the practical training hours included in a packageโข cannot giveโ learners โsufficient confidence forโค the road test, they โฃfrequentlyโฃ enough need to โคpurchase additional lessons โคto gain more โฃexperience, which may lead to budget overruns.”
A survey โฃof 324 learners found that over โ30 percent required more than 30 hours of training to pass their roadโ test. The โConsumer โฃCouncil’s costโ analysis, โขsimulating โฃcompletion of the full 30 hours, โฃshowed total fees could differ โคby more than HK$10,000 (US$1,286.47)โ between schools. The findings highlight aโ lack of clarity in pricing andโ training standards within Hong Kong’sโ driving school โคindustry.