Xinhua News Agency Beijing July 28 New Media Special Telegram: Focus on Taxi Reform Four Major Concerns of the People
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua View" reporters Ding Jing, Qi Zhongxi, Zhao Wenjun
The "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry" and the "Interim Measures for the Management of Online Booking Taxi Business Services" were issued recently, and the "boots" of taxi reform have been implemented. Can the reform ease the "difficulty of taking a taxi" and "expensive", and can private cars drive online taxis? Will the "share money" be reduced?
Can my car drive an online car-hailing? What are the conditions?
At present, many people driving online car-hailing are often investigated, and some people want to drive online car-hailing, but they are still waiting and seeing because of the unclear policy.
After the document was issued, worry and wait-and-see will become "past tense". The document gives online car-hailing platform companies legal status, supports the continuous innovation and standardized development of online car-hailing platform companies, and relaxes restrictions on online car-hailing platform companies to not require their own vehicles.
According to the regulations, the conversion of private cars to online car-hailing requires meeting three basic conditions: passenger cars with 7 seats or less; installation of vehicle satellite positioning devices and emergency alarm devices with driving record functions; and vehicle technical performance meeting the requirements of relevant standards for operational safety.
At the same time, the regulations also specify four requirements for online car-hailing drivers: obtaining the corresponding type of motor vehicle driver’s license and having more than 3 years of driving experience; no traffic accident crime, dangerous driving crime record, no drug use record, no drinking driving record, and no 12-point record in the last 3 consecutive scoring periods; no violent crime record; other conditions stipulated by the urban people’s government.
"It is worthy of affirmation that administrative reform should take the initiative to adapt to the trend of the’Internet + ‘era and the reality of the taxi industry, and face the problem head-on," said Yu Mingyuan, a highway transportation development research center at the Highway Science Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport.
Guo Jifu, director of the Beijing Transportation Development Research Center, believes that the new policy reflects respect for market laws. But for online ride-hailing included in the operation, its market behavior should be regulated.
It is worth noting that in order to encourage the "sharing economy", the new policy also allows private passenger car sharing, or "hitchhiking". However, the requirements are not for profit, and should be carried out during commuting hours or holidays. There should be a certain limit to the number of rides per car per day. Part of the travel cost is limited to direct expenses such as fuel costs and tolls.
Can "taxi difficulty" be alleviated?
Whether you can get a taxi during the morning rush hour, and whether you will be "rejected" when you go to the nearest hospital. "Difficulty in taking a taxi" is one of the most concerned issues for the people in the taxi reform. Experts believe that the change in the capacity scale is the key issue affecting the difficulty of taking a taxi for citizens.
As of the end of 2015, there were about 1.39 million taxis in China, about 8,500 taxi operating enterprises, and about 130,000 self-employed households. According to the document, the next step in the development of taxis is to adhere to the principle of giving priority to the development of public transportation, moderately developing taxis, coordinating the development of cruise cars and online cars, and promoting the gradual integration of the two formats.
Liu Xiaoming, deputy minister of transportation, pointed out that the "moderate development" of traditional taxis requires cities to take into account the actual situation of the city, reasonably grasp the scale of taxi capacity and the proportion of sharing in the urban comprehensive transportation system, and establish a dynamic monitoring and adjustment mechanism.
According to the requirements of the document, the number and scale of online car-hailing are controlled by various localities. Cheng Shidong, director of the Urban Transportation Office of the Comprehensive Transportation Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, believes that the overall direction of the policy for online car-hailing is "deregulation". Previously, it was worried that the setting of the scrapping age of online car-hailing would affect the enthusiasm of some online car-hailing owners, but this condition in the document became "600,000 kilometers", and many private cars can be converted into online car-hailing, increasing part of the transportation capacity.
Guo Jifu believes that it is understandable that some cities with limited road resources and severe congestion may implement a number control on online car-hailing.
Will taxi prices go up or down?
According to the document, government pricing or government-guided pricing will be implemented for traditional taxi rates, and a dynamic adjustment mechanism for freight rates will be established. For online taxis, market-regulated pricing will still be implemented, except for those that the city people’s government deems necessary to implement government-guided pricing.
Zhou Hanhua, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that traditional taxis used to be set by the government, and the price adjustment had to go through a hearing. But this time using government pricing or government-guided pricing allows traditional taxi companies to adjust prices between the upper and lower limits according to market conditions, giving them more flexibility.
According to the document, online car-hailing practices market-adjusted prices, but it is worth noting that "unless it is necessary to implement government-guided prices". Guo Jifu believes that even for online car-hailing, consumers’ bargaining power is still very weak, so special weather such as rain and snow, peak hours, and congested locations require a certain price adjustment mechanism to protect the rights and interests of passengers.
At the same time, the document stipulates the low-price subsidy promotion behavior of online car-hailing platforms: online rental car operators shall not disrupt the normal market order by operating at a price below cost in order to crowd out competitors or monopolize the market.
"Some platform companies have seized the market through low-price subsidies and promotions, which has impacted the normal market order and affected the taxi industry and social stability," said the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Transport.
Zhou Hanhua believes that subsidized promotions also need to be distinguished. It is not possible to operate below cost for a long time, but holiday "red envelopes" should be normal market competition activities.
"Generally speaking, the price of online car-hailing will not fluctuate too much." Cheng Shidong said that the current price of online car-hailing is basically market pricing, and the reduction of subsidies is also an inevitable result of market development. In the future, price competition will turn to service competition, and by improving service quality, it will create brand effect.
Will "molecular money" decrease?
"Molecular money" is the common name for the contract fee that taxi drivers hand over to the company, which is an important source of income for taxi companies. "I owe the company hundreds of yuan every day when I open my eyes" is a typical taxi driver complaining about high molecular money.
In the document, there are two main reforms related to molecular money: one is to implement term restrictions and free use of new taxi operating rights, and the operating entity cannot be changed; the other is that "molecular money" is determined and dynamically adjusted by taxi companies, industry associations, taxi drivers, and trade unions.
Cheng Shidong pointed out that "part money" includes the value of the concession right, and the cancellation of the paid user fee for the operation right is an important measure to reduce the "part money" of taxis.
"Negotiating on an equal footing and implementing dynamic adjustments will help taxi drivers have the voice over prices and raise their enthusiasm," Mr. Yu said.
At present, some regions have begun to explore reducing "part money". In Hangzhou, several companies return 10% of the contract fee to drivers, and through subsidies and rewards, "part money" has been reduced from 8,000 yuan per month to the current minimum of 6,400 yuan per month.
In Shanghai, Didi Chuxing, Shanghai Seagull Holdings and others have launched a "Shanghai Seagull Taxi Driver Service Agency". The service agency does not charge money, and drivers who join the club only need to pay a monthly service fee of 50 yuan to enjoy invoice management, vehicle commercial insurance, online tax payment and other services.
