Some local rules strictly restrict online car-hailing, so it should be ＂managed＂ as a taxi？

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 27. The announcement of the Interim Measures for the management of online car-hailing is about to be "full moon", but the formulation of local rules is slow. Recently, some places have successively announced the exposure draft of the detailed rules for the management of online car-hailing, which has strictly restricted the entry threshold and operation mode, causing controversy. The public is worried that the management of online car-hailing will follow the old road of taxi management.

　　The formulation of local online car-hailing rules and taxi reform are key reforms in the field of people’s livelihood that affect the nerves of hundreds of millions of people, and they are also a vane for observing the implementation of local reforms, the effectiveness of streamlining administration and decentralization, and the sense of gain for the people. How to avoid local online car-hailing management "old wine in new bottles", and even the "landing deviation" of reform, is a new test question for local governments at all levels.

　　Is there a place to "manage" online car-hailing into taxis?

　　The Ministry of Communications and other departments jointly issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Booking Taxi Business Services" (hereinafter referred to as the Interim Measures) and the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the Guiding Opinions) issued by the General Office of the State Council. After the introduction, there was a lot of applause. However, the access standards, operation quantity and price details of online car-hailing are determined by local governments according to the regulations.

　　Therefore, the details of the implementation of the online car-hailing policy have become the focus of attention. At present, Lanzhou, Jinan and other places have successively consulted the society or taxi driver groups on the implementation details of online car-hailing. From the disclosed local consultation version, although each has its own characteristics, there are strict thresholds for the number of online car-hailing and operating standards.

　　The positioning of online car-hailing is higher than that of cruise cars. The person in charge of Lanzhou City Transportation Office said that the model, quality and configuration of online car-hailing are obviously better than ordinary cruise taxis, and the price is also higher than that of cruise cars. According to the "11 Questions and Answers on Hot Issues in Deepening Taxi Reform" jointly issued by Jinan Transportation Management Center and Jinan Taxi Association to taxi companies, Jinan online car-hailing and cruise cars are positioned differently. "The grade of online car-hailing vehicles should be significantly higher than that of local mainstream cruise taxis, providing high-quality differentiated travel services for citizens."

　　Lanzhou will strictly control the development scale of online car-hailing, reasonably formulate the number of online car-hailing vehicles according to market demand, and implement reasonable control on online car-hailing at the access end. According to estimates, the saturation state of operating vehicles in Lanzhou should be around 15,000, while the current number of taxis in Lanzhou is 10,000, plus the government’s investment in taxis in the next two years, it should reach 12,000. According to this calculation, the number of cars left for online car-hailing is only about 3,000.

　　There are stricter requirements for the operation of online car-hailing. According to the plan of Jinan soliciting opinions, online car-hailing may be limited to more than B-class cars, and it must be sprayed with proprietary logos. According to the provisional measures, when the mileage of online car-hailing reaches 600,000 kilometers, it will be forcibly scrapped. When the mileage does not reach 600,000 kilometers but the service life reaches 8 years, it will be withdrawn from the operation of online car-hailing.

　　Wang Jun, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, believes that once local government departments adopt strict quantity control and freight control for online car-hailing, online car-hailing will be no different from traditional taxis, but only taxis booked through the mobile Internet.

　　Will reforming "autonomy" become an "umbrella company"?

　　The disclosure of the local version of the online car-hailing policy has caused many citizens, drivers, and experts and scholars to express concern. Some people believe that these brewing details do not reflect the spirit of the Ministry of Transport and the State Office documents and the characteristics of the sharing economy, and they have to return to the old road of taxi control.

　　Wang Xin, vice-president of Didi, said that some specific provisions of the detailed rules of Lanzhou and Jinan for consultation are contrary to the interim measures. For example, the requirements for online car-hailing to have a unified logo, provide taxi invoices, and withdraw from the same six-year period as taxis cannot be found in the interim measures. However, restricting the number of online car-hailing, requiring models and prices to be higher than taxis, and setting prices by the government follow the idea of quantity and price control in the taxi industry, which is inconsistent with the market-led and people’s interests-based policy spirit.

　　Some local ride-hailing owners are also concerned that the number of online ride-hailing restrictions will lead to "license speculation" and rent-seeking behavior. Yin Hao, the head of a special car company in Nanjing, said that he is most concerned about the restrictions on models, prices and quantities in the local rules for online ride-hailing. Yin Hao believes that some of the current exposure drafts blindly use the excuse of providing differentiated services to raise the model requirements for online ride-hailing operations, which will cause cost waste in actual operation. And local departments want to strictly control the number and price of online ride-hailing cars, which is an "offside" behavior of the government, which is not conducive to the promotion and development of the online ride-hailing operation market.

　　"Now, there are more than 10,000 online car-hailing vehicles in Lanzhou. If we have to control the scale of 3,000, on the one hand, it will take away the’rice bowl ‘of most online car-hailing drivers, and on the other hand, it will make online car-hailing licenses a hot and scarce resource. Will this create conditions for power rent-seeking and corruption?" Mr. Chen, a Lanzhou citizen, expressed his concerns to reporters.

　　Many citizens have also raised concerns about whether the "difficulty of hailing a taxi" will worsen. An online car-hailing driver in Jinan told reporters that Jinan wants to set the level of online car-hailing to "be significantly higher than the local mainstream cruise taxi". But judging from the current situation, the details in the pipeline may make Jinan online car-hailing "annihilated".

　　Chen Mengyang, a resident of Hefei who has been using online car-hailing to travel, said: "Whether it is the number of restrictions or the model grade is higher than the taxi, it will inevitably lead to the reduction of the number of online car-hailing options for citizens. In addition, once the price of online car-hailing is significantly higher than that of taxis, ordinary people will pay more for travel."

　　How can the reform of top-level design not be discounted?

　　Why did the temporary measures for online car-hailing, which reflect the determination to deepen reform, win unanimous applause from netizens, but the local version of the detailed rules for soliciting opinions made many netizens shout "the spirit of reform has changed"?

　　The experts interviewed believe that the key is to formulate local detailed rules, so that online car-hailing and taxis can improve efficiency and service in fair competition through technological and management innovation, and better meet the travel needs of the masses. If the local government adopts administrative measures to force the implementation of "misplaced operation", it is not in line with the spirit of reform.

　　Wang Jun, an associate professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, said that before the emergence of online car-hailing, there were also discordant factors in the taxi industry. On the one hand, the "share money" makes taxi drivers dissatisfied; on the other hand, after the subcontracting or transfer of taxi operation rights in some places, the entrenched interests are formed. When the government issues new licenses or withdraws old licenses, it will cause license holders to resist. Therefore, restricting the development of online car-hailing does not mean that the problems existing in taxis will be solved.

　　The latest "China Internet Network Development Statistics Report" shows that in the first half of 2016, the number of online booking taxi users was 159 million, and the number of online booking car users was 122 million. Data provided by Didi Chuxing shows that the current Didi platform includes 15 million registered drivers such as special cars and ride-hailing, among which the driver group from the capacity-reducing industry exceeds one million. Among these drivers, about 15% have been laid off from the enterprise to drive full-time, and more than 80% of drivers drive part-time on the platform.

　　"Judging from Didi’s research, the motivation for drivers in the capacity reduction industry to join Didi is to earn extra money to subsidize their families after their own work. For them, driving a car is a choice to obtain new employment opportunities and life security." Wang Xin believes that once the rules similar to Lanzhou and Jinan are implemented, some drivers will lose flexible employment opportunities and their stable income will also be affected.

　　"To protect the interests of taxi operators and ensure the smooth transition and common development of the old and new formats, the key is to change the rigid management system of traditional taxis, re-determine the rights and responsibilities between enterprises and drivers, and’reduce the burden ‘for front-line taxi practitioners. Gradually make the operation and supervision of taxis closer to online car-hailing." Wang Jun believes that excessive regulation of online car-hailing not only fails to solve the old problems of the old format, but also hinders the development of new formats. Local governments must carefully consider this.

　　"Under the market economy environment, urban travel needs to be innovative and differentiated services. But how to achieve differentiation is not something the government can stipulate." Zhang Guohua, director of the Urban Center Comprehensive Transportation Planning Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that urban transportation planning should follow the laws of the market, what kind of pricing is the most reasonable, who can provide travel services, and how many vehicles are the most suitable. These should not be stipulated by administrative orders. All stakeholders should be allowed to fully game in the market to achieve a dynamic balance in the industry.

　　He Wensheng, a professor at the School of Management of Lanzhou University, said that in the "Internet +" era, whether it is taxis or online car-hailing, they should be liberalized and "loosened" for their development. Local regulations for the implementation of online car-hailing should encourage fair competition, balance the interests of all parties, and should not restrict the development of new business models for the sake of "stability". (Written reporters: Yang Yuhua, Liu Liangheng, participating reporters Bai Liping, Shao Kun)