Xinhua slams Didi for price rises, criticises its monopoly in China
State news agency says after its US$35b acquisition of Uber’s China operations in August 2016, Didi now commands almost a 90pc domestic market share
China’s official Xinhua News Agency has slammed car-hailing service Didi Chuxing for “capricious” price rises, suggesting its acquisition of former competitor Uber China’s business has resulted in a monopoly of the market, as well as making its charges more opaque.
As hailing a car has become nearly impossible in some cities in China, consumers who pay an extra 50 per cent to Didi during peak hours are now given preference, Xinhua said in a commentary.
The company’s unreasonable charging also now tops the list of complaints by customers, but Didi has never disclosed its fare-rise algorithms even though the company claims any fare adjustment is based on supply and demand.
Didi has also failed to provide reasonable grounds to justify its price-rise increments for rides, said Xinhua.
Didi declined to comment on the Xinhua report.
The Chinese official news agency claimed the company’s unscrupulous price rises were made after its US$35 billion acquisition of Uber’s China operations in August 2016, that made Didi the largest player in the domestic market, now commanding almost a 90 per cent market share.