多部门商讨共享单车押金监管举措 from NetEase (our translation):
“Nov. 6 to 8, the Ministry of Transport, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, PBOC and other departments called representatives from the transport agencies of 17 provinces as well as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to a meeting in Chengdu to discuss the regulation of the bike rental industry. An important topic of discussion was the management of deposits paid to bike rental companies by users.”
What happened: Following the recent company closures of Coolqi and Bluegogo which led to many users waving goodbye to their deposits, various government departments from 17 provinces convened in Chengdu to discuss regulating the management of deposits for bike rental companies.
Why it’s important: How bike rental companies are managing users’ deposits have been a concern since day one but little has been done to protect users. With the much-publicized collapse of Coolqi and Bluegogo and the loss of many users’ deposits, it seems that the government is finally taking some action. A lawyer interviewed by NetEase says that currently, a major shortcoming is that mismanagement of the deposit does not have any associating punishment.
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