On December 8, the official website of the Ministry of Transport showed that on December 7, the Office of the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference on the Collaborative Supervision of New Transport Business Forms organized reminder interviews with ride-hailing platform companies such as Dida and Hello.
Is Hitchhiking an online ride-hailing service? How to prevent platforms from engaging in illegal online ride-hailing business in the name of ride-hailing?
Dida Travel responded that there are many essential differences between ride-hailing and online ride-hailing, but some product functions are also prone to confusion in public perception, and the "nearby orders" function was revised to "nearby ride-hailing" that can more accurately reflect the essential characteristics of ride-hailing. "Temporary route" function. Hello Travel stated that it has initiated actions related to the optimization of some products, and the optimized products will be launched in the near future.
Industry insiders believe that the current system and regulations of the ride-hailing industry are not clear enough, and the healthy development of the industry cannot be separated from the joint supervision of relevant departments, industries, and users.
Is "Hitchhiking" an "online ride-hailing service"?
Ministry of Transport: No, no relevant permission is required
As a typical representative of the sharing economy, ride-hailing helps protect the environment, save energy, and alleviate traffic pressure.
But in 2018, after Didi Hitch was offline due to safety incidents, the ride-hailing industry ushered in a big change. More and more travel platforms joined the ride-hailing market, including Gaode Hitchhiking, Hello Hitchhiking , Cao Cao rode along. In addition, there are also some regional hitchhiking players, such as Pinke hitchhiking, Alpha hitchhiking, and Yiwei hitchhiking.
In fact, after so many years of development, users do not have a comprehensive understanding of Hitch. In November, some netizens asked the Ministry of Transport: "Does a ride-hailing count as an online ride-hailing service? Do I need to apply for an online ride-hailing qualification certificate? My journey to work is 30 kilometers. If I can take a ride-hailing ride, I can save a lot of money." The pressure of life."
At that time, the Ministry of Transport responded that private car sharing, also known as ride-sharing, is a situation where the ride-sharing service provider releases travel information in advance, and people with the same travel route choose to take the ride-sharing service provider Small passenger cars, shared travel methods that share part of the travel cost or provide free mutual assistance. The legal private car sharing referred to here is very different from the online car-hailing commercial passenger transport service, and does not require relevant online car-hailing licenses.
"But the following requirements should be met: First, the travel information should be released in advance based on the owner's own travel needs; second, people with the same travel route should choose to share the vehicle; third, it should not be for profit, sharing part of the travel cost or Free mutual assistance; fourth, there should be a certain limit on the number of shared rides per vehicle per day." the Ministry of Transport emphasized.
Before 2018, there were only two major players in the ride-hailing field: Didi and Dida. After two safety incidents occurred in Didi Hitch in 2018, the ride-hailing industry has entered a comprehensive rectification stage, and relevant rules have become increasingly clear. In accordance with the latest requirements of local regulatory authorities, the number of daily orders that car owners can receive on compliant ride-hailing platforms is somewhat limited, with most orders being between 2 and 4 orders.
"The reminder interview showed that as a new business format, there are many essential differences between ride-hailing and online ride-hailing, but some product functions are also prone to confusion in public perception. Therefore, the product and function settings of the platform should more accurately reflect Shunfeng The essential characteristics of the car will be disseminated and communicated to the public in a timely manner." Dida Chuxing emphasized in its response that it will resolutely resist illegal operations and will not turn ride-hailing services into cheap online ride-hailing services.
In fact, domestic free rides are still in their infancy. According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, the total transaction volume of China's ride-hailing market is expected to increase from RMB 14 billion in 2019 to RMB 113.9 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 41.8%.
How to prevent ride-hailing companies from engaging in online ride-hailing in disguise?
Analysis: Limit the number of orders received, standardize ride-sharing prices
The interview pointed out that recent media reports have repeatedly reported issues related to the products of ride-hailing platform companies such as Dida and Hello, mainly because the "nearby order" function deviates from the nature of ride-hailing. , suspected of engaging in illegal online ride-hailing business in the name of Hitchhiking.
In response, Dida Chuxing stated that it has revised the "nearby orders" function to a "temporary route" function that can more accurately reflect the essential characteristics of ride-hailing.Dida Travel introduced that "temporary routes" and "frequently used routes" are jointly subject to the number of daily orders received by the platform and the shared ride price. The shared ride price is a fixed price of about 50% of the local commercial operating vehicle price. On the Dida platform, No ride-hailing owner can achieve profit-making purposes.
"Limit the number of orders received per day to 2-4 orders, and then standardize the ride-sharing price of Hitchhire to be 50% lower than the operating vehicle price. If this rule can be implemented, it will be profitable to engage in the online ride-hailing business on the Hitchhike platform. Impossible." A person in the travel industry said.
In addition to the "nearby orders" function that deviates from the nature of Hitchhiking and is suspected of engaging in illegal online ride-hailing business safety risks in the name of Hitchhiking, the interview also mentioned that some platforms also have "user avatars showing gender" and "carrying out long-distance operations". Intercity services" and other aspects of safety risks.
In response to this, Dida Travel responded that it would further ensure operational safety through "scenario restrictions" such as "stopping service from 1 am to 5 am", "long-distance travel is limited to 800 kilometers", and "virtual avatars do not show gender differences" .
Hello Travel said that after paying attention to the four requirements of the Ministry of Transport on the ride-hailing industry at the end of November, it immediately checked and actively initiated actions related to the optimization of some products. The optimized products will be launched in the near future.
On December 8, a Beijing News Shell Finance reporter logged into several Hitchhiking platform apps. After publishing the itinerary, HelloHitchhiking showed some itineraries for car owners with high accessibility, available for invitation. Didi Hitchhiker and Dida Hitchhiker do not have the above functions. In addition, Hello Hitch can publish itineraries around the clock, while Didi Hitch and Dida Hitch have suspended midnight services.
"In the name of ride-hailing, it is actually the reality of online ride-hailing" and the socialization of travel were once a chaos in the development of the ride-hailing industry. After some rectification, the development of the industry tends to be standardized. Previously, many travel platforms vigorously developed the ride-hailing business. However, due to restrictions on accepting orders, many travel platforms no longer focused on the ride-hailing field.
Previously, Liu Jinliang, chairman of Caocao Travel, , told the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter, "The current system and regulations of the ride-hailing industry are not clear enough, and promotion to a certain scale requires a lot of investment. Caocao Travel's development of the ride-hailing business is relatively small. Be cautious."
As a new form of transportation, the development of free rides has not been smooth sailing, and it is not uncommon for the platform to miss the mark. The aforementioned industry insiders said, “This is just a reminder interview, which shows that the relevant platforms only have hidden risks and have not reached the level of violations. It also serves as a warning for the platforms. Compliance operations are fundamental. The healthy development of the industry is inseparable. Joint supervision by relevant departments, industries and users."
Transportation industry expert Xu Kangming told the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter that the phenomenon of "illegal online ride-hailing in the name of free rides" cannot be used by platform companies for a long time. Call “regulatory arbitrage” what you will, but it’s certainly a concerning situation. Some companies are playing around with the situation, but the Ministry of Transport has the ability to identify which platforms are genuine ride-hailing platforms.
Beijing News reporter Chen Weicheng editor Chen Li proofreader Zhang Yanjun
