Car-hailing Services

In July 2016, the Ministry of Transport released two draft guidelines to standardize online car-hailing services, recognize the business model and laying out the general rules for car-hailing operations that will come into effect on November 1. The guidelines themselves are being hailed as a green light for the emerging sector. According to draft rules released in October by the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, however, most vehicles endorsed by the ride-hailing platforms will no longer qualify as these cities will either require that drivers have a hukou (permanent residence permit) of that city when many drivers are migrants, or that the vehicles used have a certain engine size or wheelbase length, causing an outcry among the public. The taxi industry has been a focus of public concern in these cities because hailing a cab has become a chronic problem. The issue is seen as a yardstick for measuring the governing capacity and urban management level of local governments in the coordination of the development of both the taxi industry and online car-hailing services in the Internet era, testing policy-makers’ determination to persevere with the reform.