New Pricing Policy May Not Make It Easier For You To Get A Didi

Chinese New Year is fast approaching, meaning a lot of Didi drivers are heading home. On top of that, new policies require drivers to hold a Beijing hukou to be a legal driver on car-hailing apps. That means it's becoming increasingly difficult to get a car from any car-hailing apps.

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According to Xinhuanet, Didi Chuxing announced that they would gradually cancel the “higher pricing” on taxis throughout the country on January 23 in order to decrease prices. They also explained, “we used the suggested fee on traffic and demand as a price lever, so the customer can decide whether to accept the fee or not, and the fee belongs to the taxi drivers. But for some reason, people misunderstood.”

As a result of cancelling the “suggested fee, it may take longer to get a taxi, and there will be a lower possibility of getting a taxi. But it will still be possible for customers to leave a taxi driver tips if they want to” As a result, according to Didi, "the numbers of drivers has dropped 25 percent, while there were 30 percent more orders.”

The report reads that the reason that it’s hard to get “taxis on Didi is because the drivers know that customers can add tips, so if he doesn’t take the order but waits there, they know you will (be forced to) add more tips or accept the higher tariffs (more than 1.5 times of the normal price) to get a car, so they can get more money later.”

According to BJnews, a customer requested a taxi on Didi, but waited for for 20 minutes in vain until he added RMB 10 as tips. Suddenly, there were three drivers fighting to take him within a second, which proves just how severe the issue is.

An interview of taxi drivers by BJnews detailed how, before last July, all tips and tariffs went to the drivers; and from last July to October, they could get up to RMB 50 on top of that. After last October, however, the total tariffs and fees cap dropped to RMB 20 per order.

“Since the policy of requiring a Beijing hukou, one third of non-Beijing drivers in the Tongzhou team will no longer be able to drive for these apps,” Zhang Guohua, General director at The China Center for Urban Development (under National Development and Reform Commission) said. “The new policy doesn’t fix the problem of conflict of supply and demand, and car-hailing services are still in great demand. With numbers of drivers dropping, and subsidies from the platform to the drivers decreasing, drivers are not motivated enough to work on holidays.”

All in all, the cancellation of tariffs and higher pricing will not solve supply shortage problems, but it means hailing a vehicle from the apps could be more difficult during Spring Festival, so prepare in advance, be patient, and keep yourself warm while you wait. Perhaps its time to get back to using regular grumpy Beijing cabbies.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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