Didi lashes out at car-hailing guideline proposals in leading cities
Restrictions would greatly reduce pool of qualified vehicles while pushing up cost of services to consumers, industry giant warns
Three mainland cities released drafts of local guidelines to regulate car hailing businesses on Saturday, but mainland car hailing giant Didi Chuxing hit back saying that they would substantially reduce vehicle supply and increase operating costs.
According to the drafts issued in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, only drivers holding household residency in their respective cities and vehicles registered with local number plates would qualify for car-hailing services.
The rules feature a number of restrictions on vehicles’ wheelbases. Petrol-based cars should have a wheelbase of at least 2.7 metres while new energy cars must have a wheel base of more than 2.65 metres.
In Shanghai, drivers working for car-hailing apps must also be the car owners as the vehicles providing carpooling services must be registered with the local transport authority. Shenzhen includes the stipulation that cars must be less than two years old.
Didi said in a statement on Saturday that the measures were quantitative limitations in disguise, forcibly raising the bar to accessing car-hailing business platforms.
