Ministry criticizes Didi over safety issues

Source: Xinhua | 2018-11-29

THE Ministry of Transport said yesterday that the hitch service of Didi Chuxing, China’s largest mobile ride-hailing platform, was illegal and would remain offline until the company corrects the safety issues.

The ministry made the announcement following a joint inspection by 10 government departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice, in September into the eight major players of the ride-hailing industry for safety loopholes and problems concerning the safety of passengers.

The inspectors found safety risks in the hitch service, including leaking personal details of passengers. Its fare settlement also posed risks, the ministry said at a media briefing.

The investigation follows the deaths of two passengers this year, both of whom were using Didi’s app to hail cars and were murdered by the drivers.

The hitch service’s marketing campaign operated almost like a social networking service, making it potentially dangerous for passengers, especially women. The inspection group also found illegal operations of Didi’s mobile ride-hailing service since a large number of cars in use and drivers employed by the company were unqualified.

“Didi’s management loopholes were also exposed in the inspection such as inadequate assessment of drivers’ professional qualification and background information, posing a threat to public safety,” the ministry said.

Besides suspending the hitch service, the inspectors also demanded that Didi executives are punished and its illegal advertisements banned.

The ministry said there were loopholes in Didi’s information system that could be easily hacked. The firm was told to stop the virulent price competition with other platforms and false advertisement.

The company and its legal representative will receive administrative punishment, the ministry said.

China unveiled its first nationwide regulations for ride-hailing services in July 2016, granting legal status to the industry.

The ministry also blamed Didi for lacking an emergency response mechanism. The other seven ride-hailing platforms were also urged to correct irregularities regarding qualification of drivers and cars, fund clearing and safety management.

Didi’s Chief Executive Officer Cheng Wei said the hitch service would be suspended indefinitely while they would continue to work on the safety measures.

“We have put all our efforts into corrective measures to ensure safety and have been reflecting on our development over the past six years systematically. We will not compromise safety under any circumstances and will do our best to protect the safety of drivers and riders,” Cheng said.

Didi has invited traffic authorities and regulators as well as stakeholders to join hands to establish an industry-wide safety code for online ride-hailing and hitch service.

The ride-hailing company has added new safety features, including a one-click “call police” option and itinerary sharing through the social network. It now has facial recognition functions for drivers before they pick up riders from the platform.