It seems that Didi’s take-over of Bluegogo’s bike-rental business hasn’t been smooth sailing. Transportation authorities in Shenzhen and Guangzhou have been in talks with Didi, saying that operating a bike-rental business under Bluegogo’s name is against regulations due to Bluegogo’s unsolved deposit issues and operation problems.
Didi announced last week that it has launched its own bike-rental platform after it bought up Bluegogo’s bicycles and took over a part of its business. That being said, some of Bluegogo’s blue bikes—which are maintained by the company—are returning to the streets.
However, just a few days later, Shenzhen’s transportation regulator pointed out that the city has banned placement for new bikes (in Chinese) and that Didi is not allowed to operate Bluegogo’s bike-rental business before helping sort out the deposit issues. There have been reports earlier saying that Bluegogo’s users can’t get a refund for deposits.
On top of that, Guangzhou transportation authorities also told local media that it has talked to Didi and warned that it’s not allowed to place new bikes on the streets and Didi should take care of the remaining issues (in Chinese) Bluegogo left behind.
“Didi will actively cooperate with the government to push forward relevant business and provide residents more convenient services,” Didi told TechNode but didn’t specify more details about its approach.
Didi users can now ride Bluegogo’s bikes with a deposit waiver if providing their their Sesame Credit score operated by Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Financial. As for users’ deposits, Didi provides another option for Bluegogo users—exchanging them into coupons for rides with Didi—in addition to their original pursuit of a deposit refund from Bluegogo.