New regulations will be released to promote fairness between taxis and car-hailing service providers. (Photo : Getty Images)
The new regulations were created following the decision of the State Council to recognize the top two car-hailing services in the country.
The Council recognized Didi and Uber last Thursday.
The draft plan also bans the car services from picking up passengers in train and airport terminals. The vehicles will only be allowed to stay in the parking area.
Cheng Shidong, director of the Integrated Transportation Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that it would be unfair to taxis if private cars registered with Uber and Didi did not fall in line.
"Taxis are required to line up at airports and railway stations to pick up passengers. If private cars are allowed to receive passengers without lining up, it would not be fair for taxi drivers or their passengers who had to wait," he said.
Cheng said that the new rules are supposed to promote fairness among taxis and the car-hailing service providers.
"If both types of services, the ride-hailing cars, and taxis, are allowed to take clients at the same time, it will result in chaos, since they follow two different sets of rulMinsitres," he explained.
Hong Jun, an Uber driver in Beijing, was not bothered with the new rules.
He said, "I don't care about getting passengers at the airport or railway station. Personally, I prefer to avoid those places anyway."
Hong added that he had a bad experience at the Beijing South Railway Station when he was picking up a passenger. According to him, the GPS system did not work and took him half an hour to look.
The new regulations are set to be final by Nov. 1.
Uber China and Didi formed a merger this week after a long battle to dominate the Chinese market. The government sees that the regulation will be easier to implement with the two companies falling under one management.
