Cities tighten restraints, saying Didi Kuaidi, Uber continue to operate without license

Eight departments in Beijing, including the transportation management and commerce bureaus, met with managers from Didi Kuaidi and Uber on July 23, saying the companies are involved in unapproved for-profit operations, tax violations and the sending of junk text messages.

The companies’ managers said they are willing to cooperate with the authorities and pledged to check and regulate their businesses.

This has been the third time this year that Didi Kuaidi has been summoned by government departments in the capital.

In Shanghai, a crackdown on unlicensed ride services was launched in mid-July, with drivers signed up with Didi Kuaidi and Uber being the main target. Each driver would be fined 10,000 yuan ($1,610) and have their driving license held by the police for at least three months if he or she was caught, while the company the driver signed up with would have to pay a 100,000 yuan fine.

Didi Kuaidi, created in a merger in February between former rivals Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache, boasts around 160 million users on its smartphone platforms and provides up to 5.5 million trips a day.

Traffic police and transportation inspectors in Beijing have caught more than 1,200 drivers who used Didi Kuaidi platforms to conduct unlicensed operations this year.

Authorities in other cities, such as Wuhan and Yangzhou, have also requested that the company stop using private cars to provide chauffeur and car-sharing services and asked it to regulate its businesses in accordance with laws and regulations.