Car-hailing needs proper regulations to address ills

Didi Chuxing, a car-booking mobile app owned by Didi Kuaidi, is shown on a mobile phone, Sept 17, 2015. [Photo/IC]

WANG JUAN, a resident in Changsha city, Central China's Hunan province, was charged 150 yuan ($23) for a 25-kilometer Didi ride on Monday. After complaining to the service staff of the Chinese car-hailing app company, Wang was told the driver had detoured from the regular route and the service company returned some of the money to Wang. Changsha Evening News commented on Tuesday:

Exorbitant fares are only one of many problems that occur with car-hailing rides. Only a few cities, such as Shanghai, have regulated the car-sharing industry, other places are yet to do so. Some condone its growth, while others seek to combat them as "black cabs".

Nothing can be perfect and all the ills revealed should prompt strengthened supervision of the car-sharing market. As problems are exposed, appropriate regulations should target the issues.

Previously, we might have been able to find a reason to say that something new was born and you do not need to worry about it. But the car-hailing business has been around for several years and its business scope has expanded from the first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities or even towns.

Now it is time for the introduction of appropriate regulations to cover this part of the economy.