Bluegogo and Mobike Quietly Double the Cost of Rides

Users of Bluegogo and Mobike recently discovered that fares for the share bikes had risen by 100 percent.

Bluegogo, which is backed by Didi Chuxing, was the first to up their fees on Mar 21 and were followed shortly thereafter by Mobike on Monday, Apr 1. When the new rates go into effect on Apr 8, users will instead be charged RMB 1 per 15 minute ride versus the same amount per every 30 minutes. An extra RMB 0.5 will be added per every additional 15 minutes of use.

The price hike has so far only been rolled out in Beijing and is seen as reflective of the companies' floundering financial positions. Recent research by equity firm China Tonghai Securities "showed that after accounting for losses of RMB 4.6 billion to its parent company Meituan in 2018, Mobike will be loss-making until 2021," according to Technode.

Earlier this year, Mobike was removed from WeChat's in-app wallet feature, taking a significant portion of the company's users with it, as they were less likely to take the extra step to download the stand-alone app. 

Even with the price hike, Mobike and Bluegogo's woes are nowhere bad as everyone's least favorite share bike operator, Ofo, who owed RMB 1 billion to its riders as of late last year and suffered angry mobs outside their offices demanding deposits back. Taken as a whole, it appears that the short reign of cheap share bikes may soon run out of gas.

READ: Bye Bye Mobike, Hello... Meituan Bike?

Photo: cuikai-wh.com