(Yicai Global) Nov. 21 -- The Shenzhen government in southern China's Guangdong province held a hearing to discuss the management of city's bike-sharing programs on Nov. 20, with a number of delegates suggesting that firms bring an end to the collection of cash deposits from users, Jiemian News reported.

The meeting follows recent much-publicized cases of bike-sharing firms struggling to refund its users their original cash pledges due to capital flow problems.

Bluegogo, run by Tianjin Luding Technology Co., was once China's third-largest bike sharing company with a valuation of USD150 million (CNY1 billion) but was recently dissolved due to. Its subsequent failure to return deposits to the majority of its users attracted great attention across the country.

Meeting delegate Zhai Xiaojuan deemed cash pledges unreasonable due to the contrast between the 890,000 shared bikes in circulation at present and 22 million registered users in the city, especially as bike-sharers are able to use these deposits without the knowledge of users.

Cash deposits are no longer fundamental in the prevention of misconduct among users due to the rise of GPS-based smart locks and real-name registration system, says Jiang Lei, a member of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The cancellation of the pledge system could lead to fewer complaints and disputes while improving the development of bike-sharing companies in formalizing operation at the same time, he added.