Beijing car plate 'yin and yang'

A 70-year-old Beijinger taking driving lessons is among the growing number of senior residents seeking a driver's license, a requirement to join the plate lottery. Provided to China Daily

Friends, relatives team to get rights for new owners

A photographer in Beijing surnamed Wang recently bought a car and registered it under a friend's name.

The 30-year-old said he will be a father later this year and needs a car for family use. But he doesn't have a Beijing hukou - or permanent residency permit - so is not eligible for the city's license plate lottery.

His friend had won in the bimonthly plate lottery, yet was not in urgent need of a car.

Wang said the friend at first tried to lease the rights but was concerned about potential risks.

"To let me use the quota is safer as we are good friends.

"So we have agreed she can use the car whenever she needs, which is also very convenient for her," he said.

"We are kind of sharing the car," he said: "I paid the money for the car and she offered the license plate."

A consultant in the Internet business who only gave his surname Li had a similar experience.

He bought a small SUV last year using a license allotment won by a friend who couldn't yet afford his ideal vehicle. At the same time, Li's wife and father-in-law had tried their luck in the plate drawing for nearly two years with no results.

"It's not like selling or leasing a car plate," Li emphasized. "What we did is not business but helping each other.

"On one hand, I have the use of a car and on the other hand, my friend keeps his rights," he said.

According to current regulations, an allotment expires in six months if the winner does not purchase a car.

The city began the lottery system to limit car purchases and ease traffic congestion in 2011. With a continuously expanding applicant base, it is increasingly difficult to get a plate in the capital city, so some of those who want to buy cars are turning to friends or relatives for help.

Legal risks

Yet such practices do have legal risks, lawyers warn, especially for the person that lends the license plate.

In car accidents, owners of vehicle plates sometimes bear joint liability even if they are not driving, said Wang Ying, a lawyer at Yide Law Firm.

In some cases, the owner of the vehicle license and the driver sign agreements to define responsibilities if an accident happens, but such agreements are invalid when a third party sues for compensation, said Zhang Yanqi, a partner in the Beijing Anzhi Law Firm.

In addition, there could be disputes over ownership of the car, although those have been very rare, both lawyers said.

But the days of friendly cooperation could soon be over as the government further tightens regulations on the use of license allotments.

A revised regulation released at the end of 2013 and effective from this year says that plate rights can only be used by those who win in the lottery. Attempts to sell, lease or lend the allotment will result in revocation of rights and the original owner will be banned from the lottery for three years, it said.

But the reality is that large numbers of Beijingers still rush to join the lottery whether they need a car or not in next six months.

Nearly 2 million applicants participated in the drawing in April, less than 1 percent of them winners.

To increase the odds, many call on family members and relatives to join the lottery.

According to local media reports, more older residents in their 50s and 60s went to driving schools in the past two years to get a driver's license, a requirement to join the lottery.

The majority don't learn to drive for themselves but to try and get a license plate for their children, the reports said.