Bike-sharer Ofo has nearly 12 million users waiting for deposit refunds – more than the population of Belgium
- Ofo said this week that people seeking deposit refunds at the company’s headquarters would join the queue of those who had applied online
Around 11.7 million customers of cash-stretched Ofo are currently waiting for deposit refunds according to information on its app as of Thursday morning, which means the Beijing-based bike sharing start-up needs to return at least 1.16 billion yuan (US$168 million) back to users.
Early users of Ofo were asked to pay a 99 yuan deposit, which was later raised to 199 yuan, before they could rent a bike through the service. Users could request a deposit refund anytime via the Ofo app but there was a waiting period of 15 working days for the refund to be received, according to deposit refund instructions.
Ofo did not immediately respond to a request from comment on its current deposit returns figure.
Meanwhile, in a further blow to the cash-strapped start-up, high-profile founder and CEO Dai Wei has been placed on a blacklist of credit defaulters. A Haidian District Court ruled on December 4 that Dai must refrain from incurring excessive business expenses, after a case brought by Hangzhou Huodi, a supplier and creditor. This means, among other things, that Dai is banned from playing golf, flying business class, or staying in luxury hotels.
The ruling underlines the swift fall from grace for one of China’s most prominent start-ups.