ChinaTravelNews – Guangzhou’s commercial and transportation authorities have launched a joint investigation with the local police on April 30 against Uber Guangzhou amid allegations that it is engaged in “fake taxi service” and “illegal operation”, according to Nanfang Daily’s e-zine oeeee.com.
The allegations against Uber were made by a small Guangzhou taxi firm that also mounted an anti Uber protest with banners, in response to Uber’s recent large-scale driver recruitment campaign in the city. Pictures of the protest were posted on popular micro-blog Weibo.
Uber Guangzhou’s PR spokesperson told ChinaTravelNews that Uber was cooperating fully with the authorities in the investigation and that services on the Uber platform had not been affected at all. The company also maintained that it strives to offer services to facilitate commuting in the city in response to the state government’s encouragement of car-pooling.
Guangzhou Transport Commission said in a statement: “The city’s law enforcement authorities are taking joint action to investigate and crack down on unlicensed and illegal operations to maintain order in the city’s transportation services. The commercial, security and transport departments are investigating a company that has not completed its business registration and is recruiting privately owned cars with no operating licenses to conduct commercial operations. We have confiscated smartphones as part of the ongoing investigation.”
In the statement, the Transportation Commission also acknowledged that traditional taxi services with unvaried and inconsistent service quality are not fully meeting the diversified needs of commuters, and the city authorities are looking at coordinating online platform operators to leverage technology and offer innovative “car hire” services to provide legal and quality transportation options for the public.
Meanwhile, a reader told ChinaTravelNews that the Uber Guangzhou team is still actively engaged in a special Guangzhou consumer campaign, offering users who share pictures of Uber on social media 50% discounts on fare. (Translation by David)
