The draft of the national “car-hire regulations” to be released this week is expected to finally resolve the issue of whether private cars or rental cars are for hire in China.
One source said the impending regulations will set he direction for the legalization of chauffeur service and confirm the legality of different forms of transportation service such as chauffeur service and express car service. “Rental cars and private cars will probably not be allowed to be listed on chauffeur service platforms,” said the source.
Meanwhile, the first batch of cars-for-hire in Guangzhou are still being tested and it has still not been decided when the service will be available to the public, according to the Municipal Transportation Committee.
Guangzhou is the only city in China in the testing stage for car-hire service. The investment in car-hire was passed in a voting of 19 to one in a commission hearing held in November last year to determine city taxi transportation capacity indicators attended by 20 industry representatives.
This decision was followed by the establishment of an official “car-hire” platform Ruyue, listing cars from the four local taxi companies –Baiyun, Guangjun, Guangzhou Jiaotong and Lixin. This platform is now undergoing tests. (Translation by David)
