Uber traces data hack perpetrator back to rival Lyft CTO Chris Lambert. (Photo : Reuters)
After the crackdown of Uber's office in Guangzhou on Thursday, experts have suggested revisions to transport sector regulations, the Global Times reported.
Gu Dasong, a professor of transportation law at Southeast University, told the news site that Uber's operation of hiring private car owners to offer car-for-hire services in China is illegal, and suggested that innovations and reforms in the transportation sector should be carried out by the Chinese government especially in this Internet age.
Currently, there is no decree in China that allows car-pooling services.
The lack of law hinders city governments from investigating companies that offer car-pooling services like Uber, Zhao Zhanling, legal counsel for the Internet Society of China, told the Global Times.
Zhao also advised the city government of Guangzhou, the capital and largest city of Guangdong Province in South China, to be involved in an investigation regarding car-pooling services offered by private car owners.
However, despite the expert's suggestion of Uber's scrutiny, he also advocates the legalization of the car pooling services as it would boost the performance of the transport sector.
Uber is an American international company that provides a mobile-based transportation network allowing passengers to submit a trip request routed to crowd-sourced taxi drivers.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, authorities raided the company as it was suspected of operating without legal authorization as well as using private drivers. In China, cars from rental companies are the only ones allowed to provide car-for-hire services.
The raid operation was the first ban against mobile-app-based transportation services.
China's Ministry of Transport stated that booking services from private cars are considered illegal and the transport authorities will enforce the law, South China Morning Post reported.
Earlier this year, the commission has banned taxi-hailing applications used by unlicensed drivers to regulate the rapidly expanding sector.
