The wild growth of the sharing economy has encountered bottlenecks, and the huge deposit pool has become a risk

Recently, users of many shared bicycle companies such as Kuqi and Bluegogo have encountered difficulties in refunding their deposits, which has attracted widespread attention at home and abroad. Analysts pointed out that the difficulty in refunding is due to the fact that the positioning of shared bicycle deposits is not clear and their use is not standardized. On the other hand, the oversupply caused by the rapid growth of shared bicycle platforms in various places has also brought pressure to some platform operators. In the future, government departments, the industry itself, and platform companies should work together to further clarify the rules and procedures for deposit collection, deduction, use, and return to promote the healthy development of the industry.

Wild growth encounters bottleneck

"I finally got my money back. It was not easy! I ran all the way from the West Fifth Ring Road to get the money back. Now I still have a balance of several dozen yuan. I just consider myself unlucky!" Mr. Wang, a Beijing consumer, was quite helpless when talking about his experience of getting a shared bicycle refund.

It is understood that the deposit standards collected by domestic shared bicycle platforms are not high, usually ranging from 99 yuan to 299 yuan. This is not a big deal for a single user, but each platform has hundreds of thousands or even tens of millions of users, and each user often registers on multiple platforms at the same time, so the total amount is not a small amount.

Since September this year, bike-sharing companies such as Kuqi, Bluegogo, Xiaoming, and Machima have been exposed for not being able to refund deposits. During the refund process, some users encountered scalpers who refunded deposits on behalf of users.

Experts pointed out that in recent years, the shared bicycle market has gained popularity among users because it effectively solves the need for "last mile" travel, and shared bicycles have even grown wildly in some areas. However, while shared bicycles bring convenience, many platform companies are also facing development bottlenecks. Some companies have withdrawn due to limited actual market, while others are still operating but facing problems such as tight funding.

A relevant official from the Beijing Municipal Administration for Industry and Commerce pointed out that shared bicycles are owned by consumers after they are pledged, and after users apply for a refund, shared bicycle companies must return the bicycles within a prescribed period. However, the industrial and commercial departments can only conduct administrative mediation in response to consumer complaints. If the companies refuse to cooperate, consumers can only seek legal resolution.

The purpose of the deposit is key

According to the Statistical Report on the Development of China's Internet, the number of shared bicycle users in China has reached 106 million as of June 2017. Based on the average deposit of more than 100 yuan per user, the deposit amount of the entire shared bicycle industry may have exceeded 10 billion yuan, which does not include various unspent balances of users' pre-charged deposits.

Specifically, there are two main ways to deposit deposits: the first is to set up a "special account" in the bank to store user deposits; the second is to deposit user deposits centrally within the head office.

Wan Zhe, chief economist of the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission, said in an interview with our reporter that the deposit for shared bicycles is actually a kind of mortgage paid by users to use bicycles. Therefore, the key to the problem is not the deposit itself, but whether the "fund pool" formed by the user's deposit is used openly, transparently and in a standardized manner for bicycle maintenance, service improvement and other proper purposes. If the platform company uses the customer's deposit for investment or other purposes without the customer's consent, the losses should be borne by the company.

"At present, the difficulty in refunding shared bicycle deposits has also shown a certain degree of bank run. This means that the relevant shared bicycle platforms have encountered a credit crisis." Wan Zhe said that technological innovation has brought about industrial innovation and financial innovation, but supervision has not been in place in a timely manner, which urgently needs to be remedied.

In the view of Liu Junhai, a professor at the School of Law of Renmin University of China, there are institutional loopholes in the deposit supervision of shared bicycles. The security of funds is not guaranteed, there is a risk of misappropriation, and consumers do not have the right to know. Insecurity and opacity are two major problems.

Regulatory norms to prevent risks

Liu Chunyan, associate professor at the School of Law of Tongji University, believes that if shared bicycle companies use deposits for operations and investments, they will cause losses to consumers if operations fail. "It was originally a one-to-one rental model, but it has become a one-to-many deposit model, which has financial attributes." Liu Chunyan suggested that banks should implement supervision like third-party payment and pay a certain proportion of reserve funds.

"The new economy and new business models cannot grow wildly. Corporate autonomy, industry self-discipline and government supervision must be promoted in a coordinated manner." Liu Junhai said that shared bicycle companies collect huge deposits and do not regulate custody without clarifying their legal nature and purpose, which poses certain legal risks and legislation should be improved as soon as possible.

It is worth noting that the supervision of the use of shared bicycle deposits has received attention from relevant government departments. Earlier, the "Guiding Opinions on Encouraging and Regulating the Development of Internet Rental Bicycles" issued by the Ministry of Transport and 10 other departments clearly pointed out that if companies collect deposits and prepaid funds from users, they should strictly distinguish between the company's own funds and user deposits and prepaid funds, open a special account for user deposits and prepaid funds at the company's registered place, implement the special fund for special purpose, accept supervision from transportation, finance and other competent departments, and prevent and control user fund risks.

"In fact, whether used as a means of transportation or a means of financing, the advantages and disadvantages of shared bicycles are very obvious. We must also see that although China's shared bicycle market has great potential, rapid development, and sufficient vitality, it is not a very mature market in essence. Therefore, if the shared bicycle industry wants to develop sustainably and healthily, the relationship between the government, enterprises, and individuals does need to be further regulated." Wan Zhe said.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.