Didi to suspend 'hitch' service after passenger killed

Didi Chuxing, China's leading ride-hailing online platform, announced Friday that it will suspend its "hitch" service nationwide for a week for rectification, after a driver was suspected of killing a flight attendant who used the Didi app Saturday night in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

"Hitch" is one of 13 services Didi offers in China that are designed for commuter cost-sharing. It allows registered car owners to accept rides each day along preset routes.

According to Zhengzhou police and Didi's Sina Weibo account, the 21-year-old flight attendant surnamed Li arranged a ride via Didi's app as she left the airport to go to the train station in Zhengzhou, and Liu Zhenhua, the suspect, picked her up.

Surveillance video showed that after the killing happened, Liu abandoned the car and jumped into a river to escape.

An investigation by Didi Chuxing showed that Liu used his father's Didi account when he served Li that night, which is in violation of the terms of service.

However, a facial recognition device, which was used by Didi to make sure the service provider is the registered driver himself, failed to recognize the difference.

The statement by Didi also said that the account of Liu's father had received a complaint filed by a customer before, who accused the driver of verbal sexual harassment. However, as Didi's customer service department failed to contact him after trying to call him five times, the complaint was closed without any punishment for the driver.

Admitting that its hitch service has problems, Didi said the service will be suspended for a week nationwide for self-inspection and correction starting May 12.

In addition, the company said it will completely examine driver qualifications on its other services and exclude any mismatch cases of drivers and their accounts.

Now the police are trying their best to track down and arrest the suspect. Didi also offered a reward of up to 1 million yuan ($160,000) for information concerning the whereabouts of Liu.