China should ban the use of private cars in car-hailing services and shut down illegal online platforms for such services, said most respondents in a month-long solicitation of public opinions on car-hailing services, media reported Monday.
According to the Ministry of Transport (MOT), most of the 580 submitted opinions on service management agreed that it is illegal for private cars to book ride services through online platforms and authorities should crack down on such activities by shutting down those platforms, the China News Service (CNS) reported.
The MOT began soliciting public opinions on the issue on October 10 after a draft rule was released to tighten control over domestic car-hailing services, effectively banning private cars from doing business via online car-hailing apps.
The rule also required that all private cars register as "taxis" in order to operate through online car-hailing services.
However, in an online poll on Sina Weibo initiated by Zhang Xiaoyu, an associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, 92.7 percent of the 667 respondents said they do not want to ban online car-hailing services as of press time.
"I initiated the vote because I think the conclusion the ministry reached is against my personal experience. The services actually alleviate the pressure of taxi-hailing for most people," Zhang told the Global Times.
"To guarantee passengers' safety, the government should have strict regulations on online platforms and stipulate insurance coverage instead of banning the service."
Some of the opinions also expressed that the use of private cars in car-hailing services conforms to the sharing economy trend, which improves the efficiency of resource utilization and promotes employment, the MOT stated.
Didi Chuxing, an online car-hailing service, proposed to offer more leeway for the operations of part-time drivers and private cars, the Beijing Times reported.
Authorities should take the traditional taxi industry into consideration, said Gu Dasong, a professor at Southeast University, as the industry faces pressure from the competition posed by online services.
