The rapid changes brought by the new economy to society and the adjustment of the interest pattern are fully reflected in the field of online car-hailing. On the one hand, the platformization and networking characteristics of the new economy expand the scope and depth of contradictions. On the other hand, the new policy of online car-hailing involves a wide range, and the game of interests increases the difficulty of implementing the new policy.
"Economic Information Daily" reporter learned that the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Booking Taxi Business Services" has been implemented for more than half a year, and many local governments have not yet issued detailed implementation rules. Some cities that have issued detailed rules but have higher thresholds face "difficulties in landing".
Many industry insiders and experts suggest that we should be fully aware of the role of the sharing economy represented by online car-hailing in promoting social employment and transforming social management models. It is recommended to use the "subtraction" of power in exchange for the "multiplication" of market vitality.
The new policy of online car-hailing in some cities is "difficult to implement"
The reporter learned that as of April 24, 2017, 85 cities had issued detailed rules for the implementation of online car-hailing, 115 cities had completed the consultation, and more than 100 cities had not yet completed the consultation.
In some areas where new policies have been introduced, the implementation of policies still faces a game situation. The reporter learned that the main focus of the game between policy requirements and platform interests is twofold: first, whether to implement household registration, vehicle, wheelbase and other requirements; second, what degree of access to the operation data of the supervision platform needs to be reached and what content is included.
In practice, some cities took into account the capacity of the local taxi market and the strategic needs of urban development, and imposed more restrictions on drivers’ household registration, vehicle price and wheelbase. Some platforms have calculated that the implementation of the new policy in cities with higher thresholds will reduce their online car-hailing capacity by more than 90%, which is a heavy blow to the platform.
At the same time, the platform-based characteristics of online car-hailing break the tradition of "the company is local" in the past. If the online car-hailing platform does not set up a local subsidiary, the local management department may not find a communication partner during supervision, which exacerbates the difficulty of solving the problem.
On the other hand, the new economy represented by online ride-hailing platforms quickly grabbed market share with the help of subsidies and financing, but this fast pace has had a great impact on the balance of the traditional taxi industry in a short period of time. At the same time, in some higher threshold areas, it has also caused a large "crowding out effect" for online ride-hailing drivers. These factors have led to constant friction between cruise car drivers and online ride-hailing drivers in some places.
According to Didi Chuxing statistics, as of February 2017, the total number of registered drivers on the Didi platform reached more than 17.50 million. Active drivers on the Didi platform 2 million, with a per capita daily income of more than 160 yuan, and the total number of taxi drivers in various cities across the country has reached 2 million. At the same time, there are thousands of software and algorithm engineers behind Didi.
All parties have mixed reactions to the new policy of online car-hailing
The reporter learned that the implementation of the new policy varies widely across the country, and the views of all parties on the online car-hailing industry have also fluctuated.
Some local new policies have passed the implementation deadline, but non-compliant online car-hailing is still in operation. Cruise car drivers do not know whether to stay in their jobs, and online car-hailing drivers do not know whether to change careers.
According to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission, after the emergence of online car-hailing, the income of cruise car drivers fell from about 6,500 yuan in 2013 to about 4,500 yuan in the first half of 2016. From 2014 to 2016, the driver team lost nearly 10,000 people. However, taxi operations have recently improved.
A Didi executive who did not want to be named said that after the introduction of the new policy, Didi’s online car-hailing business also experienced a sharp decline, and drivers were losing a lot.
According to reports, before the Spring Festival in 2017, the average daily number of taxi calls by passengers in some big cities increased sharply from more than 300,000 to 900,000, and the response rate of taxis on the Didi platform was only 40%. In addition, after the new policy was gradually implemented, the transportation capacity of Didi Kuaidi special car decreased, and the response rate dropped from 90% in October 2016 to about 50% in March 2017, which greatly reduced the travel experience of passengers.
Capital markets have also begun to hesitate, "unsure" of the market prospects of online car-hailing platforms. Due to the impact of the new policy on the market, the market valuation of many online car-hailing platform companies has declined, which has also affected the layout of enterprises at home and abroad. Some industry insiders said that the enthusiasm of domestic venture capital capital for the sharing economy such as online car-hailing has subsided.
The implementation of the New Deal is difficult to reflect management anxiety
The Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Booking Taxi Business Services have been in place for more than half a year, but the implementation details in many places have not yet been issued.
The demand for online car-hailing varies from place to place. Some places believe that cities should give priority to the development of public transportation, and online car-hailing is only a supplement and should be more "high-end" than cruise taxis. Therefore, higher thresholds are set for online car-hailing models, prices, displacements, and wheelbases. There are also some places that want online car-hailing to take into account both high, medium and low-end needs. For example, Haikou has abolished the displacement limit of online car-hailing, while Lijiang and Hanzhong have chosen to connect cruise taxis to online car-hailing platforms as a whole.
Shouqi car-hailing CEO Wei Dong said that road traffic congestion in first-tier cities in our country is serious, and it is reasonable for local management departments to choose to raise the threshold for online car-hailing, while the taxi market in second- and third-tier cities is not saturated, and the online car-hailing policy can be relaxed a little.
As for whether the number of taxis should be controlled. A grassroots cadre said that the Ministry of Construction issued the "Urban Road Traffic Planning and Design Specifications" in 1995, which stipulated that the number of taxis in large cities should be 20 per 10,000 people and 15 in small and medium-sized cities. This became the standard for calculating and controlling the number of taxis in most cities.
However, there are also opinions that this standard has not changed for many years, and that online car-hailing is not the main cause of road traffic congestion, so quantitative control should be liberalized in a timely manner. The "Analysis Report on Beijing Road Traffic Operation Based on Didi Big Data" released by Professor Yan Xuedong’s research group at Beijing Jiaotong University in October 2016 believes that online car-hailing uses economic laws as a lever to adjust the supply and demand of the traffic market, and uses information symmetry as the core to match the supply and demand, which helps to reduce the rate of empty vehicles.
In many places, the development of online car-hailing has led to a shrinkage in the price of taxi licenses, and some taxi drivers and license-speculating intermediaries have been seriously damaged. For example, some urban taxi licenses have increased from 200,000 yuan in the past to 800,000 yuan, due to online car-hailing competition and reduced to 400,000 yuan.
Some industry insiders say that the formulation of the local version of the new car-hailing policy faces multiple interests. Before the reform of the taxi industry, drivers had lifetime licenses, which made them lack the incentive to improve their services. If the depreciation of the license is used to redeem and other means to accelerate the withdrawal of local taxi companies, these companies may find it difficult to accept.
The law enforcement of online car-hailing has also caused administrative reconsideration in various places. An executive of a car rental company in Nanjing said that private cars in Nanjing were converted to operating vehicles. When they were connected to the platform, the passenger management office of the traffic bureau allowed them, but the vehicle management office of the public security bureau failed the annual inspection. Many private cars have been difficult to access the online car-hailing platform.
An official from the Kunshan Municipal Transportation Bureau said that some platforms have openly resisted the law, not only encouraging vehicles punished in Kunshan to file for administrative reconsideration, but also reimbursing fines. Some local transportation management departments have frequently received administrative reconsideration for online car-hailing, and they are basically unable to do other things.
Xu Kangming, a taxi reform expert, believes that after the release of the local new policy, measures should be taken to allow illegal people and vehicles to withdraw, otherwise it will destroy the fair market environment. On the one hand, cruise taxi companies cannot expand their scale, and on the other hand, law-abiding online car-hailing companies will pay a high price.
Safeguarding the "source of vitality" of the sharing economy
Some experts interviewed believe that they should be fully aware of the role of the sharing economy represented by ride-hailing in promoting social employment and transforming social management models, and suggest "subtraction" of power in exchange for "multiplication" of market vitality.
In-depth research on ride-hailing companies and conduct scientific assessments. The sharing economy represented by ride-hailing poses new challenges to the urban traffic management model. Behind the transformation of the momentum of the old and new economies is the differentiation of the beneficiary groups of the old and new economies. Industry insiders believe that the beneficiary groups of the old economy are more concentrated and highly organized, but the beneficiary groups of the new economy are more extensive and the voice is more scattered. Therefore, in policy formulation, the affordability of the beneficiary groups of the old economy should be considered, as well as the breadth of the beneficiary groups of the new economy.
The rise of platform economies such as Didi, Alibaba, and Tencent is supported by strong capital, which has also benefited many people. And the credit economy, platformization, and big data management may give birth to new technologies such as smart transportation, driverless driving, and vehicle to everything. These are the trends of future economic and social development. They are also an important support for the government to build new management functions. It should be treated with a more open mind.
A Didi executive said that although the "zombie cars" of Didi’s platform are not easy to manage, it said that the surplus capacity of social vehicles can be fully released when the urban capacity is tight. Cheng Wei, founder and CEO of Didi Chuxing, said that if China is to achieve the corner overtaking the western industrial powers, it is a big opportunity to transform the traditional industrial industry with the Internet thinking.
On the one hand, formulate a relatively scientific withdrawal and compensation mechanism to reduce the anxiety of social group transformation. During the transition period of the New Deal, many full-time online car-hailing drivers may lose their jobs. It is recommended to carry out relevant policy explanation and guidance work to attract them to work part-time on platforms such as car rental companies.
On the other hand, science foresees the challenges that taxi part-time may bring. The sharing economy model may lead to a wider range of part-time jobs for drivers, which will increase the difficulty of management and may also impact the average income level of the taxi industry. Car rental companies can be encouraged to increase their own vehicles to cope with the ebb and flow of Internet supply, and the average income of the taxi industry can be monitored and evaluated to guide the development of the industry scientifically.
