Didi Shanghai stops asking passengers’ destinations

World
Europe

Many car-hailing apps in Shanghai have stopped asking customers to specify where they are going on the app, as it is feared doing so was encouraging drivers to be too selective about who they pick up.

Under encouragement from the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission, the market-leading Didi Chuxing is one of the apps to have made the change.

Under Chinese law, taxi drivers are not allowed to ask passengers about their destinations before they board their vehicles.

But apps including Didi Chuxing and Uber commonly ask users to provide information about their destinations ahead of the pickup. With drivers generally preferring bigger fares, it can be hard to get a driver for short trip, especially during rush hour and in bad weather.

Didi Chuxing and Uber commonly ask users to provide information about their destinations ahead of the pickup. /VCG Photo

“Drivers said my short journeys would not provide enough compensation for the long distance they would have to drive to pick me up,” the Shanghai-based Youth Daily newspaper quoted a Miss Zhang as saying.

The new move was applauded by many Chinese social media users.

“It will rule out the problem of picky drivers,” Shouhengruxi said on Twitter equivalent Sina Weibo.

But not everyone was convinced it would make for smooth hailing.

“My short journeys will probably be filled with complaints from the drivers now,” said Weibo user Dianyingtaicijingdian.

Drivers said they would go back to the old method of responding to street hailers. /VCG Photo

The policy might make drivers less reliant on the apps and go back to scanning the roadsides for fares.

“I will respond to street hailers on a more frequent basis since the apps have lost their advantage of revealing destinations,” a driver told National Business Daily.

The Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission has promised to publish a new version of its Regulation on Reservation and Dispatch of Taxis next year.