Eight Chinese regulatory authorities on Friday jointly ordered 10 ride-hailing and freight companies to safeguard the rights and interests of drivers to ensure the healthy and sustainable development of internet-based transportation businesses.
Companies including Didi Chuxing, Meituan Chuxing, Alibaba-backed Gaode, and Chinese Uber-like freight company Huolala are among the companies requested to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of employees.
The car-hailing companies were found to have problems with charging high intermediary fees, adjusting pricing rules at will, and not being transparent in distribution mechanisms, while the internet freight platforms were found to have problems in monopolizing information, maliciously lowering freight rates, and increasing membership fees, the regulators said.
The platforms were ordered to reduce such rates to ensure the payment of their drivers, regulate pricing rules and dispatching mechanisms together with industry practitioners, improve the working environment of drivers to avoid working overtime and fatigue, and build up a smooth communication channel to protect drivers’ interests
The platforms said they will comprehensively and systematically review their operations and carry out rectification to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees.
The headquarters of DiDi in Beijing Photo: VCG
