(Yicai Global) Feb. 15 -- After strengthening supervision of the online ride-hailing sector last year, the Chinese government yesterday issued a document to further refine the rules and operational procedures so as to facilitate their enforcement by regulatory authorities at all levels.

Experts say the new measures will increase online ride-hailers’ operating costs but will also improve driver and passenger experience.

Eight ministries and administrations, including the Ministry of Transport, the People’s Bank of China, the State Taxation Administration, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, jointly issued the document, the transport ministry said on its website.

The document requires that online ride-hailing operators must not engage drivers and vehicles that do not have a corresponding taxi permit, and must not infringe on the rights and interests of drivers and passengers.

They also should not dump products and services at low prices, and must submit relevant data to a dedicated information exchange platform, it noted.

Authorities in cities at and above the prefectural level can report to superior authorities to suspend a ride hailer’s operations in their jurisdiction if the platforms refuse to correct serious violations as required by law, per the document.

The authorities can also request a halt to the release of an app or its removal from app stores, stop online services, and stop network or business operations of these ride-hailing platforms for rectification measures.

Better Experience

China will continue to supervise ride hailers this year in terms of compliance and social welfare benefits for drivers, which will increase their operating costs and difficulties, said Pan Helin, a member of an experts’ committee on the Information and Communication Technology Economy at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

But difficulties for platforms does not mean difficulty for the sector because the experience of drivers and passengers will be better, Pan added.

The document includes all administrative regulations for the sector over the past year. The Ministry of Transport issued a document to strengthen supervision of ride hailers last September and began to announce the compliance rate of each platform.

Figures show the rate varies. For example, it was 92.4 percent for Shanghai SAIC Mobility Technology and Service in December, but 31 percent for Didi Global’s Huaxiaozhu car-hailing service.

And the rate for some platforms declined from month to month. For instance, Zhaozhao Chuxing dropped 3.3 percentage points in December from November, while it Jishi Yongche fell 6.2 points, and Ucar 6.5 points.

Didi Global faced 1,733 administrative penalties since last year, most for drivers without an online ride-hailing permit, and was fined over CNY10 million (USD1.6 million), per public data.

Editor: Peter Thomas