Internet car-hailing management measures are about to be issued, and industry insiders are positive about it

Hangzhou's taxi industry reform plan will solicit opinions from all sectors of society from the 15th, and plans to cancel the paid use fee for operating rights and launch an official taxi-hailing software. This is just a microcosm of the taxi industry reform. With the rapid development of Internet-based taxi-hailing (special cars), the traditional taxi market has been hit hard, forcing the taxi industry to reform.

Recently, the media revealed that the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Taxi Booking Services" will be announced in the near future. The "Measures" intend to stipulate that "private car drivers must pass the assessment and obtain the "Road Transport Qualification Certificate" for private cars; and the vehicle must be registered as a reserved taxi, and after changing its nature to an operating vehicle, it must be scrapped after 8 years; differentiated services must be implemented, and the fare of online taxis must be 50% higher than the taxi price."

These unconfirmed news have already aroused strong public attention. However, the reaction of industry insiders seems to be relatively calm. Yu Ruizhuo, senior vice president of Yidao Car Rental, said in an exclusive interview with China.com that he welcomes and supports the introduction of the measures and is optimistic about it.

The chaos in the private car market urgently needs legal regulation

At present, there are several different models of online car-hailing. The first is private cars, whose vehicles come from car rental companies and some non-operating cars affiliated with car rental companies; the second is express cars, whose vehicles are mainly private cars; the third is ride-sharing cars, which are also mainly non-operating private cars, but their main purpose is to share travel expenses with passengers.

The management measures to be issued soon will target all ride-hailing services on the Internet, not only operating vehicles, but also non-operating vehicles such as private cars. According to statistics, more than 90% of online ride-hailing services are private cars. The safety risks brought by express and ride-sharing services, inconsistent service standards, and low entry barriers for drivers are becoming more and more prominent.

Facing the current situation of the private car market, Yu Ruizhuo said that the introduction of the new policy has actually given online ride-hailing a legal identity and regulated the business practices of practitioners, which is conducive to avoiding disorderly competition in the industry, pointing out the direction of industry development and management, and promoting the formalization and legalization of private cars.

Private car business should be differentiated from traditional taxi business

In recent years, taxi strikes have occurred in Shenyang, Nanjing and other places. The reason is that taxi drivers cannot bear the high "membership fee" and hope to increase the starting price, double time all day, increase the return fee, etc. At the same time, not only in China, but also in the United States, France, Canada, Spain and other countries, there has been a wave of taxi drivers opposing Uber and other ride-hailing apps.

In the face of the rumor that "online ride-hailing fares are 50% higher than taxi fares", Mr. Zhou from Beijing Xianglong Taxi did not show much excitement. He believes that "online ride-hailing should be more expensive than taxis, but the subsidies from major platforms are too high at present" and "we have to see whether subsidies will be restricted in the future."

Similar to Master Zhou's view, Yu Ruizhuo also believes that private cars and traditional taxis should have developed in a differentiated manner. He believes that the reason why private car services were born is essentially to solve the displacement needs of public travel. As the pioneer and leader of private cars in China, Yidao has always insisted on high-end business travel and achieved differentiated complementarity with taxis.

According to the reporter, the management method clearly defines the development principles of high-quality service and differentiated operation. As for whether it is higher than "50% of the taxi price", it is impossible to guess and we have to wait for the introduction of the method.

Changing the nature of vehicle operation is to provide a legal entry

According to current traffic regulations, private cars that use ride-hailing platforms to carry passengers are considered "illegal operations" and will be fined heavily if caught by traffic management departments. Previously, regulatory authorities in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and other places have made clear statements regarding ride-hailing, believing that it violates laws and regulations. From June to July this year, in less than two months, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission held two talks with ride-hailing platforms and investigated and dealt with more than 2,000 illegally operated private cars and rental cars.

The most controversial news in the new regulations on private cars is that "private cars need to be changed to commercial vehicles if they are used for business purposes." This means that after private cars are converted into commercial vehicles, their scrap age will be reduced to 8 years. The scrap age may "reject" many private cars.

Yu Ruizhuo believes that the online car-hailing regulations actually provide a legal entry point for private cars to engage in special car services. The introduction of the regulations will, on the one hand, regulate the market order; on the other hand, it will effectively solve the legal issues in the operation of special cars such as platforms, drivers, vehicles and charges, and provide a clear legal basis for the formalization and legalization of the special car market.