Didi-Kuaidi will launch a car-hire service for government authorities. Branded Didi Official, the service is customized with improved functions tailored according to the specific needs of regional authorities.
Another targeted service, Didi Corporate service launched in January this year, already has several thousand corporate users. Companies simply open a corporate account and top up credit and their employees can then use the service via the company’s account on website or Wechat. The fare will be deducted directly from the corporate account’s credit, and passengers don’t have to pay.
“To put it simply, companies that open a Didi Corporate account don’t need to purchase vehicles or hire drivers as they can use the service whenever necessary. Companies can also make reservations beforehand and choose from a variety of time options and vehicles to save up to 50% in costs according to our calculations,” Didi Taxi cofounder Rui Wu said.
“Receipts are issued to companies after credit purchases, eliminating the hassle of issuing receipts after each trip or employees having to record their own transport expenses. Instead, company accountants can look up individual trip details of employees by simply accessing the company account’s back-end system,” he added.
Mr. Wu said when Didi Taxi launched its Didi Corporate service, it was already thinking of extending the model to cater to the government sector as well. “The daily transport routine of public workers in government institutions is very similar to that of corporate employees, in the use of different vehicles, high quality service, charter limousine and shuttle services. Didi-Kuaidi will now take its Didi Corporate model and adapt it the special transportation requirements of regional governments to launch its Didi Official service.
“For example, the billing and payment for Didi Official could use either group or individual models to determine what part of the cost shall be borne by the authority and what part shall be settled immediately by individuals，“ Mr. Wu said. Government institutions can access their account’s back-end system to set the vehicle type, service times and access restrictions according to departments and official rank.(Translation by David)
