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A Beijing taxi driver knows better about taxi apps

From last year to now, we have had a flock of Uber-like services in China, at lease in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The well-known include Didi, Yyzhaoche and Kuaidadi. All of them were launched in 2012 and have the same business model: tips – Chinese are not used to tipping at all though. Minor differences include some share income with drivers while some charge them. Unlike troubles Uber encountered in the U.S. with regulators, those Chinese apps will have their own. I came across an article (article in Chinese) in which a Beijing-based taxi driver says he knows better. Mr. Ma, having been driving a taxi for four years, thinks those app developers are wasting too much money on marketing. To have taxi drivers adopt their apps, those app development companies would approach taxi companies or drivers to have every cab equipped with a smart device with their apps installed in. One app managed to have every driver with Mr. Ma’s company equipped with a tablet — drivers had to pay 25 yuan for a monthly data plan and 300 yuan as deposit (it’s unknown whether the app development company would take the devices back and refund drivers). But Mr. Ma and his colleagues returned the devices soon for “that device is too big and not convenient”, apart from resentment over the expenses. Now Mr. Ma has a TCL smart phone that was given away by another taxi app company. The app has been installed in the phone and Mr. Ma is required, by the lead of the fleet he belongs to, to stay signed in all day long. Some apps would show up at their weekly conferences to present how to use their services. It’s no secret that those bosses in taxi companies are bribed. There are 20 something drivers on his fleet and one third are still using one or more of those apps.

Mr. Ma said he did try out some apps but few makes any difference — business brought by those apps is less than one tenth daily. He estimates the idle time of each day is one eighth. That’s what those apps are fighting for, or say, squandering marketing budget for. A handful of services have raised some funding.

At the same time, local taxi companies are not blind. They have customer service staff taking phone call orders and dispatch taxis. Some charge several yuan for each order and share that with drivers. They are aware of the rising taxi apps trend. Qiangsheng, a Shanghai-based taxi company, launched such an app last week. The fighting must escalate.