bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jeremy Blum

Thanks to a rewards programme started by Kuaidi Dache, a popular Chinese book-a-taxi mobile app, customers can now technically ride taxis for free over short distances.
The programme, which begins on January 22, is the result of a promotion between Alipay, the electronic payment system designed by Chinese e-commence giant Alibaba, and Kuaidi Dache, a mobile app run by Kuaizhi Technology, a company based in Hangzhou.
It awards passengers who book a taxi with Kuaidi Dache and pay through Alipay a cash reward of ten yuan (HK$ 13) per ride.
Drivers who accept the transaction will receive ten yuan as well, plus an additional five yuan for using the Kuaidi Dache mobile app service – bringing their total return profit to 15 yuan (HK$19) per ride.
Under this system, customers travelling short distances can technically ride for free.
Passengers are allowed to receive two cash rewards per day, while taxi drivers can receive up to five rewards.
According to reports from Beijing Youth Daily, all rewards will be deposited into the owners’ respective accounts within three to five working days.
“The taxi incentive programme covers 40 cities and an estimated 40 million drivers will begin accepting transactions [through Alipay],” an Alibaba spokesman said in interviews with Henan news portal Dahe.cn.
This is not the first incentive programme between Alibaba and Kuaidi Dache, but it is the first to offer increasingly large monetary rebates.
In early 2013, Alipay instituted a similar system that offered users five yuan (HK$ 6) for every taxi they booked through Kuaidi Dache.
Currently, an estimated 70 per cent of taxi drivers in the Hangzhou area accept transactions through Kuaidi Dache, although the app is also popular in other cities - particularly Shanghai, where notoriously heavy traffic conditions can make hailing taxis by normal means difficult.
Kuaidi Dache’s largest competitor is Didi Dache, an app run by Beijing-based Xiaoju Technology.
Didi Dache, which is partnered with WeChat, also has a similar rewards programme for its users that grants both taxi drivers and riders a ten yuan rebate per ride if they use the app.


New taxi app rewards programme lets riders potentially travel for free

A screenshot of the various mobile services offered by Kuaidi Dache. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Beijing standardises taxi apps for mobile devices

Taxis line up in the midst of a heavy Beijing traffic jam. Photo: Felix Wong 

Screenshot of the 96106 website, showing the new selection of book-a-taxi apps. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Didi and Kuaidi: a taxi marriage?

Taxi apps are well suited to big Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, where it's often difficult to find a cab - especially during peak hours and bad weather. Photo: Xinhua

App spells gain rather than pain for taxi users

News

China Insider

If riders pay for their taxi with Alipay, they will be awarded ten yuan (HK$ 13) per ride


New taxi app rewards programme lets riders potentially travel for free

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}If riders pay for their taxi with Alipay, they will be awarded ten yuan (HK$ 13) per ride

If riders pay for their taxi with Alipay, they will be awarded ten yuan (HK$ 13) per ride