5 Ask Didi： What about the promised rectification？
After the "May 6" Zhengzhou flight attendant was killed, just three months later, there was another "August 24" Wenzhou malignant incident, and the public questioned the Didi platform: Why did the safety "barriers" set by the platform fail? Did the promised rectification really happen? After Didi announced the national downline of Hitch, some netizens questioned whether this move could block the platform’s regulatory dead end? Some netizens also worried that without Hitch, "black cars" will resurface?
1 question
If there is a solid rectification, can the tragedy be repeated?
The Zhengzhou incident and the Wenzhou incident had the same plot before the incident, that is, the suspects had been complained by other passengers. Unfortunately, as of the incident, the complaining passengers had not received relevant feedback and handling results, and the complained drivers were also taking orders normally.
Not only is there a lag in dealing with passenger complaints and seeking help, but the Didi platform is also "cumbersome and rigid" in its requirements for the police. According to a report from the Wenzhou police on the 26th, the police officers who received the case asked Didi customer service for information on the alleged offender and his vehicle three times, but they were rejected twice. It took 92 minutes to obtain the relevant information after providing the police officer’s card.
In response to the Wenzhou incident, Didi admitted that "there are still many problems in the customer service handling process, especially the failure to deal with previous user complaints in a timely manner." But on the issue of public concern about safety awareness, it blamed "the process of retrieving information is cumbersome and rigid."
Some netizens said that after the Zhengzhou incident, if Didi’s rectification was solid and in place, if the complained driver was banned from taking orders, if Didi started its so-called "escort mode" at the first time, and provided the travel track to the victim’s friends and the police, could this tragedy be avoided?
When the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Security jointly interviewed Didi on the 26th, the Ministry of Transport also criticized Didi’s work method of "promising more and rectifying less", and asked Didi to "strengthen rectification, standardize operation, and effectively ensure passenger safety and social stability."
2 questions
Is Didi a travel or a social tool?
In 2015, Didi Hitch launched a social function to promote social activities such as the "Qixi Festival" to make friends. A reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News found that "dating" and "hashtag" were the main words promoted by the Hitch business at that time. Huang Jieli, the general manager of the Hitch business department who was fired this time, once said that unlike taxis, special cars and express cars, "Hitch has many advantages in terms of policy, and its unique social nature can also add points to this business."
After the Zhengzhou incident, the rectification measures announced by Didi included: all personalized tags and comment functions in the offline ride-hailing business, drivers must perform facial recognition before each order, and at the same time introduce reports and rewards that do not match people and cars on all major platforms. In addition to Didi’s self-rectification, the regulatory authorities have also expressed the need to further strengthen supervision in response to the problems of people and cars on the online ride-hailing platform.
However, some netizens broke the news that Didi had reopened the previously offline privacy function, allowing users to check their gender. After the Wenzhou incident, Didi turned off the function again. The Yangcheng Evening News reporter personally tested on the 26th and did not find the situation. To this, Didi did not respond.
3 questions
Human life is a big deal, three times the compensation can be done?
For the Wenzhou incident, Didi issued an apology and statement afterwards, saying that it will continue to actively cooperate with the police and make every effort to do a good job in the follow-up of the family. And promised that all criminal cases that occur on the platform in the future will be compensated three times according to the standard of personal injury compensation stipulated by law.
A Guangzhou lawyer said that online ride-hailing drivers should bear the main responsibility for such incidents. However, the failure of the Didi platform to act at a critical moment is a negligent act, and it should be responsible for the occurrence of harmful results. The consequences of Didi’s fault are serious, and it can be considered as a general fault infringement, and the carrier should bear the tort liability. However, the lawyer also said that it is difficult to determine that the platform’s default has a direct causal relationship with the occurrence of the victim’s death result.
4 questions
Stop the ride, can you block the regulatory dead end?
According to reports, in the Wenzhou incident, the alleged offender Zhong used his real ID card, driver’s license and driving license information ("three certificates verification") to register and pass the review on the Hitch platform, and passed the platform’s facial recognition before receiving the order. However, the license plate issued by Zhong was temporarily forged offline.
Previously, the driver who killed the Zhengzhou flight attendant, Liu, had his driver’s license revoked and had just received a new driver’s license for less than a year. He used his father’s ID to pass Didi’s "three certificates verification" and "facial recognition". A ride-hailing driver, Mr. Chen, who did not want to be named, told the Yangcheng Evening News that "facial recognition" still cannot ensure that the driver who finally takes the order is the account person. "If the owner of the account phone is handed over to someone else to take the order after confirming the itinerary, it is still feasible."
For Didi’s announcement of the nationwide delisting of the Hitch business, the internal reassessment of the business model and product logic and other decisions. Some industry insiders pointed out that in addition to the strict owner review and access mechanism, Hitch should return to the original intention of sharing the fuel cost, and should never be for profit. "All car owners must provide proof of legitimate occupation. The daily driving distance for picking up and dropping off passengers should be on the same line, and large-scale movements should not be allowed. The number of times is also strictly limited."
5 questions
The hitchhiker is gone, will the black car make a comeback?
According to incomplete statistics, in the past 2017, there were 7.40 billion users who used Didi Chuxing, and the daily service of user orders exceeded 30 million and 40 million.
In contrast, the strength of passengers is weak. "Southern Weekend" has sorted out the past four years, the media has publicly reported that the relevant departments have dealt with at least 50 cases of sexual assault and harassment by Didi drivers.
Why are there so many accidents, but there is still a lot of demand? For first-tier cities, the commute is generally relatively long, and the price has also become the main factor in the consideration of taxi hailing.
In Guangzhou, a frequent hitchhiker told the Yangcheng Evening News that it costs her about 40 yuan to get a ride from home to the company, but even if you don’t count traffic jams and other situations, it basically costs about 70-80 yuan, which is basically double the price difference. "Canceling the ride now has a great impact on my commute," she told reporters.
"The demand for carpooling is huge." After the implementation of "four stops and four stops" in Guangzhou, some carpooling groups in Guangzhou have become more active, and many people have begun to seek complementary travel.
"Without the hitchhiker, maybe the black car will make a comeback. What should we do then?" Some people also put forward this thought.