Online ride-hailing is confused, who has the final say on the pricing?

  Xinhua News Agency reporters Cheng Shihua, Hu Rui, He Xiyue

  Citizens complain that online taxi-hailing is expensive, and drivers complain that the platform is high. What is the amount of service fees charged by online car-hailing platforms?

Did you post the bill with the driver?

A reporter from Xinhua News Agency recently visited the survey and compared the details of the passenger payment bill and the driver's payment bill. The gap between the two ranges from 25% to 35%.

How to turn "confused accounts" into "understandable accounts"?

The reporter interviewed online car-hailing platforms and experts.

"Rake" that slipped away quietly

  Several online ride-hailing drivers said that the Didi ride-hailing platform collects platform service fees from the operating expenses of ride-hailing drivers, and the percentage of each order is about 25% or even higher, and it is not transparent.

  The reporter recently took a ride-hailing car during the off-peak afternoon in Hefei, with a distance of nearly 10 kilometers.

After arriving at the destination, the reporter checked the bill with the online ride-hailing driver, Master Sun. The reporter paid 24.29 yuan, while the driver’s actual income was 18.32 yuan. A simple calculation found that the platform raked in 5.97 yuan, and the percentage was 24.5%.

The driver's bill only showed that the basic information service fee was 0.5 yuan deducted, which did not reflect the platform's commission.

During the rush hour at 7 o'clock in the evening, the reporter took another ride-hailing car in Hefei with a distance of 3.5 kilometers.

After arriving at the destination, the reporter compared the bill with the driver, Master Su. The reporter paid 9.75 yuan, and Master Su actually received 7.31 yuan, which is 25.02%.

  Master Jia, a Beijing driver, reported that the online car-hailing platform is not fixed, and there is no clear bill and explanation. It is generally inconvenient for them to ask passengers how much they paid.

Occasionally ask passengers, you will find that during peak periods or long-distance orders, the platform rake can reach 35% or even higher.

Online car-hailing platform discloses relevant data

  Didi online car-hailing company responded to the question of online car-hailing drivers about the platform's "running".

According to Sun Shu, CEO of Didi ride-hailing company, taking 2020 data as an example, Didi ride-hailing drivers accounted for 79.1% of the total passenger payable.

Of the remaining 20.9%, 10.9% are passenger subsidies, 6.9% are corporate operating costs (technology research and development, servers, security, customer service, manpower, offline operations, etc.), taxation and payment handling fees, etc., and 3.1% are online appointments Net profit of car business.

  Some online ride-hailing drivers suggested that Didi would subsidize drivers and passengers after receiving the "high rake", and why not directly reduce the "raise". Didi online car-hailing company replied that it motivates drivers to spend time in rainy and snowy weather, morning and evening. During peak hours, holiday peaks, and areas with high demand, more cars will take orders, and the platform will encourage drivers to work more and earn more through subsidies.

If you follow the "equalism" completely, it means that the flexibility of supply and demand adjustment is lost, and it will be more difficult to get a taxi during peak periods and hot spots.

  Faced with the service fee pricing rules and list data given by Didi's online car-hailing company, some online car-hailing drivers believe that, compared to online car-hailing platforms, drivers are scattered and unorganized individuals and are in a natural disadvantaged position.

The platform sets and raises the service fee collection standard, and drivers can only passively accept it.

Master Zhu, a taxi driver in Hefei, told reporters that in the past year or so, the free service of taxi drivers on the online car-hailing platform has also become a service fee, which is charged based on each single mileage.

As for the process of setting the service fee standard, when to start collecting, how to collect, and how much should be collected, the driver has no right to say at all.

  The reporter found that in the service cooperation agreement provided by the online car-hailing platform to the driver in the form of a format contract, the driver must agree to "settlement in accordance with the fee settlement standard updated by our company from time to time...regularly or irregularly."

Xie Wenfei, a lawyer of Beijing Yingke (Chengdu) Law Firm, said that in accordance with the legal standards for civil and commercial cooperation between equal entities established by the Civil Code, the settlement standards and content of online car-hailing platforms should be clear and transparent.

At the same time, the law clearly stipulates that if the platform party unreasonably exempts or mitigates its responsibilities, aggravates the driver's liability, or restricts the driver's main rights, it shall be deemed invalid.

Online ride-hailing platform commission, who "sets the tone"

  What is the cost of the platform?

How to formulate the service fee collection standard?

How do drivers and passengers express their demands?

  The “Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Taxi Reservation Service Management” implemented in 2016 stipulates that the transportation department of the State Council is responsible for guiding the management of online car-hailing nationwide.

The Measures also stipulate that the online car-hailing freight rate shall be subject to market-adjusted prices, unless the city people's government deems it necessary to implement government-guided prices.

  Zhao Jingwu, director of the Office of the Key Laboratory of Law Strategy and Management for Industry and Information Technology at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said that the measures have been in the past five years, and the new economy in the Internet age has been developing rapidly. It is necessary to keep pace with the times and introduce more operable implementation rules.

  Zhang Li, deputy dean of the School of Law of China University of Political Science and Law, believes that online car-hailing platforms are large companies with operations all over the country. For this new economic form of the Internet that transcends geography, relevant local government departments can hardly be effective in formulating rules, and relevant national ministries and commissions are needed. Active actions require both innovating at the level of regulatory systems and mechanisms, and responding to public demands in a timely manner on specific issues that are of high concern to the society. For example, the pricing mechanism and service fees of online car-hailing platforms need to be used for reference from price hearings in the traditional taxi industry. Standardize such aspects as drawing proportions.

  An expert who has long been concerned about the field of online car-hailing and worked at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology suggested that the platform should be strengthened from the aspects of anti-monopoly and labor rights protection.

  This expert believes that considering the difficulty in determining the monopoly of the industry, such as the determination of a company’s market dominance and whether its actions have reasonable commercial reasons, etc., a large amount of evidence is required, practical operations are difficult, and an innovative anti-monopoly regulatory mechanism is required. .

  Experts believe that the "digital service law" and "digital market law" being formulated by some international organizations are an exploration. For example, these bills propose that when the number of local users on a platform reaches 10% of the local population, the platform should be included in the antitrust The list of key regulated companies does not need to apply the traditional anti-monopoly complex standards for identification. From the practical level, it is easier to implement effective supervision of the platform.

  Zhao Jingwu believes that while a larger-scale platform company is empowering traditional industries, there are also new problems such as opaque and unreasonable service fees, and forced users to "select exclusives", which are not conducive to optimizing the business environment.

Large-scale platform companies are new market players in economic development, so it is necessary to find new methods and new ideas at the regulatory level.

  Some online ride-hailing drivers also suggested that relevant departments and group organizations should adopt effective mechanisms to provide support for protecting the legitimate labor rights of ride-hailing drivers.

  According to Xinhua News Agency, Hefei, May 8th