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Dial-a-driver industry needs guidelines

By Zhao Chunzhe (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-25 10:11

As the country introduces harsher penalties for drunk drivers, more revelers are resorting to driving services to take them home safely; however, a lack of discipline is tarnishing the booming business, the Beijing Times reported.

According to China's new amended Road Traffic Safety Law, which took effect on May 1, drivers are considered drunk driving if they are caught with 80 milligrams of alcohol or more for each 100 milliliters in their blood, and will be put in jail for one to six months plus receive a fine of up to 2,000 yuan ($300).

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Liu Jing, a manager with Beijing Changyinwuyou Automobile Technique Service Corp said more people are using their dial-a-driver services since the law change. “Our business received about 60 calls a day last year, while the number has surged to more than 100 due to a strong demand following the new law.”

Although there are about 500 such driving service companies in Beijing, with charges varying from 40 yuan to 120 yuan for journeys within 10 kilometers, no government department is in charge of supervising driving services, meaning the new industry is largely unregulated.

Some companies require at least five years' driving experiences and a Beijing Hukou when hiring drivers, while some don't have any specific requirements. Bigger companies require their employees to wear a uniform and take a fixed commission.

A rapidly increasing number of entrepreneurs are working independently and, compared with registered companies, these self-employed drivers make greater profits. “I work from 9pm to 5am and earn about 10,000 yuan at least per month,” said one self-employed driver in Beijing.

There is little accountability with these self-employed drivers as, according to the Beijing Times, the majority does not sign contracts with their customers and often run away from an accident scene because nothing can prove a deal had been made.

In addition, the paper said some waiters in city hotels have been providing driving services to their guests, some charging 50 yuan to take their guests as short a distance as 50 meters to avoid a police checkpoint.

The paper found most driving companies are registered under the banner of automobile technique companies or automobile renting companies because their business doesn't fit under any standard industry category.

"We wanted to apply as a driving company, but were refused by the industrial and commercial bureau,” explained Liu.

A spokesperson for the municipal transportation bureau said “only if there is a road accident, would it fall under our jurisdiction.”

Many managers of driving service companies are worried the lack of regulation will eventually harm what is otherwise an increasingly lucrative business.

About 5 million vehicles are registered in the city of Beijing. If 10 percent of them order a driving service once a month, and pay 100 yuan each time, the annual earning of the industry will reach 600 million yuan.

In response to this lack of an official supervising body, four driving services have formed an industrial association in Beijing, under which, some 300 drivers have been organized with an unanimous charge, uniform, training and driving performance expectation. It regulates the member companies draw 30 yuan commission for each call. Their charge is 2.5 times as much as a taxi rate, the paper said.