The new policy of online car-hailing in various places has gradually begun to be implemented： Goodbye, low-cost online car-hailing
Left picture, Didi special car driver Master Yang, because his household registration is not in Beijing, he said he may leave the online car-hailing industry. Our reporter, photo by Yuan Yong
If you want to find a key word for the urban transportation field in 2016, it must be the reform of online car-hailing. As a new thing, online car-hailing management has always been the focus of everyone’s attention. With the introduction of new policies in various places at the end of 2016, what will happen to the development of "rules to follow" online car-hailing in the new year?
As a typical representative of the sharing economy, online car-hailing has changed the travel habits of many people and become one of the ways for citizens to travel. At the same time, many online car-hailing platform companies have taken advantage of the situation to rise and become a business force that attracts attention. In 2016, from the central to the local level, online car-hailing policies have been introduced one after another, announcing that the development of online car-hailing has bid farewell to "no rules to follow". The once-reckless growth of online car-hailing must readjust its own positioning.
Policy easing varies from place to place
On July 26, 2016, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry", which for the first time proposed to include Internet special cars in the management of booking taxis and clarify the legal status of online car-hailing. On July 27, 2016, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other seven ministries jointly promulgated the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Booking Taxi Business Services", which clearly established the development orientation and orderly development of online car-hailing in accordance with the principles of high-quality and differentiated management. It also proposed that all localities should adopt local policies and formulate specific implementation details in light of local conditions.
In the following months, local implementation rules for online car-hailing were issued in various places. According to the Ministry of Transport, as of December 30, 2016, 42 cities across the country, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Dalian, Chengdu, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hefei, Shenzhen, and Qingdao, have officially issued detailed implementation rules for online car-hailing management. In addition, more than 140 cities have publicly solicited opinions from the public.
After the reporter combed through, he found that the degree of relaxation of online car-hailing policies issued in various places varies. While implementing the spirit of the central policy, it also reflects the different demands of various places in urban management.
According to the detailed rules for the implementation of online car-hailing management issued by various regions, different regions have requirements for drivers’ household registration, operating vehicle license plates, vehicle purchase prices, wheelbase, displacement, and length, among which the most common is to require operating vehicles to be local license plates. Overall, the detailed rules in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai tend to be stricter. Take the "Beijing Online Booking Taxi Service Management Implementation Rules" issued by Beijing as an example, which requires online car-hailing and drivers to be Beijing-licensed. In this regard, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission has stated that Beijing’s policy restrictions mainly take into account various factors, such as the management of "urban diseases", the requirements to relieve non-capital functions, and the requirements to control traffic congestion. At the same time, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission made it clear that online car-hailing cannot provide cruise rental services to reflect differentiated management. Cruise cars and online car-hailing cars should seek opportunities for integrated development in the competition of the passenger transportation market, and gradually build a new market system that is both independent and complementary to each other through "Internet + taxi". In contrast, Guiyang’s online car-hailing rules are much looser. In addition to requiring local licenses and the purchase price of vehicles not lower than the price of rental cruise cars in central urban areas, the rules have no restrictions on the driver’s household registration, operating vehicle wheelbase, displacement, etc., and only stipulate the safety of vehicle satellite positioning devices and emergency alarm devices.
Low-cost online car-hailing is unsustainable
Passengers and drivers are deeply touched by the impact of the implementation rules issued in various places, and the impact is particularly prominent in first-tier cities where policies tend to be stricter. For example, the requirements for drivers’ household registration in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities have caused practitioners in the online car-hailing industry to face a major reshuffle. Master Yang, a Beijing-based Didi special car driver, told reporters that he usually works in the logistics industry and runs a special car in his spare time, which can increase his monthly income by 5,000 to 6,000 yuan. However, although his model meets the requirements of wheelbase and displacement, because his household registration is not in Beijing, he is likely to be unable to continue to work in the online car-hailing service in the future. Master Yang said that many drivers around him have left or are preparing to leave the industry.
In Beijing, the reporter found that because the implementation details of online car-hailing are still within the five-month policy buffer period, a large-scale wave of online car-hailing drivers has not yet appeared, but many drivers have begun to think about the employment problem after the strict implementation of the policy. "For the time being, but after the policy is officially implemented, I should change careers, because my household registration does not meet the operating qualifications." Gao Shifu from Henan told reporters that most drivers are currently "working day by day" mentality. "When the policy is officially implemented or strictly implemented, there may be a lot of people who leave."
How many drivers will be affected by the household registration requirements? Take Shanghai as an example. According to the data provided by Didi, less than 10,000 of the 410,000 Didi drivers activated in Shanghai have Shanghai household registration. It is foreseeable that in first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, under the strict implementation of household registration requirements, the number of online car-hailing will drop sharply, and a large number of drivers with foreign household registration will have to suspend their online car-hailing services.
Strict implementation of the driver’s local household registration, vehicle wheelbase and other requirements will inevitably reduce the number of online car-hailing. Will this affect the passenger’s taxi-hailing experience? Will it prolong the passenger’s waiting time? Will it increase the passenger’s taxi-hailing cost? In this regard, the reporter contacted Didi Chuxing, and the other party said that it could not provide data changes in this regard. However, it is foreseeable that after the implementation of the detailed rules, it will be difficult to continue the low-cost online car-hailing service. At present, in the Didi service, the price of Didi’s special car is similar to that of a taxi, while the express car is much cheaper, and has been favored by passengers for its low-cost price. However, according to the requirements for wheelbase and displacement in the online car-hailing policies in many places, express cars, which are mostly low-end models with cheap prices, basically do not meet the requirements.
The ride-hailing platform is facing market adjustment
In response to the New Deal, various online car-hailing platforms have begun to actively respond. The online car-hailing platform company Yidao told the "Economic Daily" reporter that after the release of the detailed policies of various places, Yidao has been actively applying for qualifications in accordance with the policy requirements, and has scientifically optimized the existing business. It has taken a series of measures such as national offline car inspections, driver background checks, and online and offline education and training. According to reports, for the online car-hailing new deal exam, Yidao organized relevant staff to participate in the online application process training meeting such as the forecast name as soon as possible to familiarize themselves with and understand the mastery process and precautions. At the same time, sorting out the core drivers and vehicles, comparing the requirements of the new policy details, conducting preliminary screening, and requiring each leasing company to actively organize drivers to apply for the test and other processes. After the promulgation of the New Deal, the newly joined drivers were reviewed and screened in strict accordance with the requirements of the New Deal, and the existing drivers were investigated to know the real situation and complete the information, and effectively filed.
In the process of implementing the policy, the biggest beneficiaries may be the online car-hailing platforms that focus on the "own vehicle + full-time driver" B2C operation model, such as the Shouqi car-hailing platform under the Shouqi Group. In response to the impact of the new policy, Shouqi car-hailing said that because the company’s vehicles and drivers already meet the requirements of the implementation rules, the new policy has not had an adverse impact. A person related to Shouqi’s car-hailing said, "During the period of the implementation of the single and even number restrictions in Beijing, the number of orders and users of Shouqi’s car-hailing in Beijing surged, and the first day of the restrictions increased by 20% year-on-year. In the following days, WoW growth of 30% was maintained every day. In terms of user data, the number of new users WoW increased by 40%, and the number of recharge users and recharge amount WoW increased by 50%." Shouqi’s car-hailing department said that Shouqi’s car-hailing will further increase the size of the fleet and the number of service cities. In 2017, Shouqi’s car-hailing service cities will reach 60, and the fleet size will reach more than 100,000 vehicles.
With the implementation of the detailed rules in various places, the outside world generally believes that, as the largest market share of online car-hailing platform, Didi Chuxing has been the most affected, and whether Didi will adjust its business layout is also of concern. In fact, on December 21, 2016, in response to the new policy of online car-hailing issued by Beijing and Shanghai, Didi issued a statement saying that it will be committed to policy partnerships at all levels, explore new models of "Internet + transportation", and rely on intelligent transportation cloud platforms and data sharing mining to promote the construction and development of urban smart transportation. This development direction also seems to be fruitful. On January 5, Didi Chuxing and Guiyang Public Transport Co., Ltd. jointly announced the launch of in-depth strategic cooperation. According to the agreement between the two parties, the two parties will jointly develop and promote the service product "Guiyang Didi Bus" APP of mobile end smart bus, and jointly create the operation system of "smart bus".