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BEIJING, Oct.10 (Xinhuanet) --Taxi-hailing apps are one step closer to becoming legally recognised. Didi Kuaidi, the dominant player in China received an internet car booking licence on Thursday for its operations in Shanghai.
Didi Kuadi, a firm backed by Chinese Internet giants Alibaba Group and Tencent, is coming out of the regulatory grey zone, as it received the industry's first official license in Shanghai. The city's regulators say they are embracing the new sharing economy model.
Didi Kuadi is hoping that it can obtain more licences from other cities next year. Currently, private taxis are still technically illegal in China, but that did not stop apps like this to challenge the monopolies of local taxi companies. The fight towards legitimacy has been hard. Didi Kuaidi has gone through a back-and-forth negotiation for half a year before finding a common ground between the company and the regulator.
"The license has a very market-oriented philosophy. We managed to avoid the government controlling prices and taxi numbers, because we believe that we can find a more reasonable equilibrium through big data analysis. The deal recognises private taxis operating on our platform and is an important move that protects innovation," Didi Kuaidi's CEO Cheng Wei said.
Didi Kuaidi's competitor Uber China, said in a statement it was "actively preparing" documents to apply for a license, and it is waiting for the regulation to be officially published to make the move. Official says license application is open to all companies.
The license is the first of its kind in the world, and analysts say it's expected to be a pioneer example for other cities in China to understand how to deal with taxi-hailing apps.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
