Shanghai to regulate taxi booking apps

The traffic authority in Shanghai is in talks with app developers to partner in a taxi booking service, Shanghai Morning Post reported on Monday.

Such smartphone apps are popular in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai where it can be difficult to hail a cab during rush hours.

Sun Jianping, head of the Shanghai Transport and Port Administration, told the newspaper that to make it easier to hail a taxi in Shanghai, his authority will cooperate with app developers to integrate their products with the current cab dispatching platform.

"We are in talks now," Sun said, adding that the move can help passengers avoid unlicensed taxis and better regulate such apps.

The authority also requested the four major taxi companies in Shanghai to put more cars on the road between 7 am and 7 pm every day. Booking taxis by phone will also be promoted further, and another 8,000 cabs will be brought into the city's dispatch system.