Car-hailing apps such as Uber are facing a New Year crackdown against “illegal” taxi drivers in Beijing, making the latest in a long line of trouble spots for the San Francisco-based start-up that has sought to disrupt city transport worldwide.
Liang Jiangwei, director of Beijing’s traffic enforcement unit, was quoted in the Beijing Youth Daily, a state-run paper, on Wednesday as saying that the use of unlicensed taxis by internet hailing apps violated a ban on illegal taxis. He said a crackdown began on January 1, and drivers face fines of up to Rmb20,000 ($3,221).
“Some of these vehicles are ‘taxi clones’,” he was quoted as saying. “Many passengers have filed complaints.”