(Yicai Global) May 28 -- Deposit refunds to customers of troubled Chinese bike sharer Ofo could take 204 years to complete because of the slowness of the process, according to one netizen’s calculations.

Ofo has refunded 24,000 users since Jan. 22 and still has more than 16 million to go, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission said in a report yesterday. Ofo began paying back the money in the second half of 2018. At just 220 refunds a day, the final reimbursement would be made in the year 2224, a netizen calculated and posted on Weibo.

Before Ofo’s operator Datong Beijing Management Consulting started showing signs of trouble in the second half of 2018, it had collected individual deposits of CNY99 and CNY199 (USD13.83 to USD27.80), meaning the firm could owe as much as CNY320 million (USD44.7 million).

Beijing’s transport authority also said yesterday that it recently told the company to fix whatever has been causing a recent break down in its data transmissions. The authority did not provide further details on the matter.

Didi Chuxing's Qingju, another bike sharer, has had problems with faked data and its operator was handed fines totaling CNY100,000 (USD13,963) due to illegal parking, the same report added. Hellobike, backed by Ant Financial Services Group, has been fined CNY50,000 for sloppy parking.

Editor: Emmi Laine