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Didi Chuxing, China’s largest ride-hailing service company, announced on Wednesday that it would resume a modified version of its Hitch car-pooling service (顺风车 shùnfēng chē) in certain cities across the country by the end of November. The staggered rollout is set to first enter Harbin, Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang, and Changzhou as of Nov 20, and then Beijing, Shenyang, and Nantong starting Nov 29.
The feature was officially suspended in late August last year after two separate incidents, four months apart, in which male Hitch drivers sexually assaulted and murdered their female passengers. Both rides were hailed using the car-pool function, and the crimes triggered nationwide scrutiny of Didi's safety mechanisms in the Hitch service.
Yet one of the key changes to the reintroduced Hitch service – which restricted women from using the service after 8pm – caused such a backlash online that Didi has since reversed it completely. According to Didi, this second amendment was intended to "ensure female passengers’ safety," but caused considerable controversy online.
Other modifications to Hitch mean that rides are now limited to a distance of 50km in metropolitan areas and that drivers must scan their faces at the start of a ride.
Hitch is popular because it's cheaper than the regular service and can be booked ahead of time, and drivers can pick up passengers who are looking to share similar routes. However, the service also poses an increased risk because drivers are not required to go through Didi's otherwise more stringent registration requirements for full-time drivers; as long as the driver owns a car that is registered to their ID, they can provide Hitch rides.
Didi announced to resume Hitch service in seven cities
The initial female-only restriction was perceived as both sexist and a poor attempt to cover up a bigger problem, leading to a heated discussion on social media. One post by Weibo account 我遭遇了性别歧视 (wǒ zāoyùle xìngbié qíshì "I encountered gender discrimination") has received nearly 90,000 reposts, more than 500,000 likes, and over 30,000 comments.
Many female commenters are calling the policy victim-blaming, and are asking the same question: why is Didi effectively penalizing women, rather than dealing with the problem of unregulated male drivers?
Of course, never wanting to feel left out, some male users weighed in too, saying: "So only women get hurt or killed? We need protection too." Some drivers meanwhile are asking: "Why are we always targeted? Our safety during the ride can be also threatened!" Basically, nobody was happy.
In response to the flood of criticism, Didi’s CEO Liu Qing posted an apology on Weibo, stating: "As a woman myself, I agree that it’s not the best solution for ladies, but we’re trying our best to solve our safety problems. On the issue of security, this a trial run. I kindly ask you to give us more time ... We welcome everyone's criticisms and suggestions so that we can better protect everyone's safety and experience."
Liu was apparently being sincere, and by Thursday evening Didi had released a second statement stating that they were reversing the decision to only allow men to order Hitch rides after 8pm. The announcement begins with a drawn-out apology before citing internal statistics that detail how, prior to the ban, Didi received on average 45 percent additional complaints of sexual harassment between 8pm to 11pm and 465 percent between 11pm to 5am. It does not specify whether these complaints were from men or women.
The statement goes on to say that "Because Hitch cars are privately owned, we are unable to install compulsory cameras to help ensure safety like regular Didi vehicles are required to have." This latter point is somewhat questionable as based on our experience, very few Didi cars are fitted with cameras but rides can be recorded via microphone should the passenger wish.
While it's laudable that Didi is trying to solve ongoing problems with the safety of their service, this latest flip-flop shows that they still have some way to go in ensuring fair and safe access to all of their passengers.
Photos: VGC, Didi Chuxing