Drivers stand by cars of Shouqi Limousine & Chauffeur, a taxi-booking service, on Sept. 16, 2015, in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
Beijing on Monday handed out its first batch of licenses for drivers of car-hailing app services, shortly after the country legalized these services and left it to local governments to lay out the requirements on how to become a driver.
The first license was awarded to Meng Tao, a Beijing resident who has had a driving license for nearly 2 decades, a local newspaper The Mirror said in a report.
The report said that an estimated 20,000 have filed applications for new licenses in the Chinese capital and more than 1,200 drivers have already passed the mandatory exam.
Among the applicants who have taken the car-hailing exam include traditional taxi drivers and ordinary citizens with an ordinary driving license.
Beijing and Shanghai have issued detailed guidelines for online ride sharing websites and services in December last year, including rules that require drivers who offer such services to possess city household registration papers and local license plates.
Under the new rules, a majority of drivers currently covered by car-hailing apps in both cities will be rendered ineligible, according to a report from the state-owned Global Times newspaper.
China's largest online car-hailing platform Didi Chuxing welcomed the clarification of the rules for car-hailing services issued by the country's two leading cities.
Compared with the first proposed drafts, the new rules are a significant step towards a more sensible and liberal frame work as it reflects the input taken from the public consultation phase, the company said in a statement in December.
Officials from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport (BMCT) told the Global Times that the Beijing government has shaped the policy based on the actual experiences of its 21.7 million residents who are regularly facing heavy traffic congestion and environmental problems.
Efficient public transportation should make car-hailing apps as a minor method of commuting, BMCT Director Zhou Zhengyu told the Global Times.
