·Beijing hits the Internet car rental market

The rushing taxi software is like a summer humming, and it’s been alive for a while, and people can’t think of this market going so quietly. I thought that at the beginning, it was really "there is a burgeoning trend." Nowadays, although it has not yet been talked about "the time of its death", no one can ignore the difficulties encountered.
The impact of the Internet on the traditional car rental market was initially unexpected, and many people, especially at the regulatory level, were even more unprepared. This is of course a very natural thing. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "the road is one foot high and one foot high". In the face of sudden contradictions and difficulties, it is the two extremes of error to use the administrative means at hand to suppress and use high-tech means to evade supervision and seek ill-gotten gains. We are not afraid to put out these difficulties and contradictions, only to have demand in front, because there will be markets if there is demand.
A paper document from the Beijing traffic control department has made the seemingly thriving Internet rental market face “sudden death”.
The Transportation Committee of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Commission issued a Notice on Prohibiting Car Rental Enterprises from Facilitating Illegal Operation (hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), which clearly defines which vehicles can be leased and the difference between lease and passenger services. Directly refer to car rental software such as car.
The "Notice" first defines the object of this regulation: booking a car rental with the help of the Internet and mobile software. This means that whether it is a climate-friendly easy-to-use car, Uber and AA car rental companies, or a taxi, such as fast taxis and drip taxis, which are conspired to enter the car rental field, are almost completely affected.
In addition to the legal requirements for registration, registration and other formal requirements, this document has two major regulations: First, private cars are not allowed to engage in car rental operations, operators must provide their own vehicles; second, car rental services must not be equipped with drivers to avoid Confused with passenger transportation.
The "Notice" is strictly worded, pointing to the operators of some Internet car rental services. "The purpose is not to engage in car rental operations according to law, but to engage in illegal operation activities in the name of providing convenient car rental services without obtaining legal operating qualifications."
Take Beijing as an example, the rapid development of companies such as easy-to-use cars, coupled with the promotion of online and offline channels, makes the Internet car rental industry, which is not large, seem to be amazing. Some practitioners revealed that several large taxi companies in Beijing have jointly "suggested several times" and accused the car rental software of robbing the taxi's rice bowl, but it ended up being lost.
As of now, the biggest player in the domestic Internet rental car field is the easy to use car. Earlier this month, the company claimed to have occupied 90% of the business car rental market share. Smaller companies such as Uber and AA car rentals share the remaining market share.
The "BAT" Big Three also have a strong interest in this fast-growing market. Baidu joined forces on August 8 to launch the “Baidu Special Car”; earlier, Alibaba’s fast taxis repackaged the “Bumblebee” acquired at the end of last year and launched “No. 1 Special Car”; another rumor It is said that Tencent’s Didi taxi will launch a “U-Yi taxi”, which is expected to be launched at the end of August.
Private cars are banned from the taxi software for taxis. The cars that users use to hire car rental software are all from professional car rental companies. The models are more abundant and high-end, sometimes equipped with drivers, and the service quality is better. Also higher than a taxi.
However, in order to expand the fleet size and seize market share as soon as possible, many car rental software often do not follow the routines. In cooperation with regular car rental companies, they also recruit private cars through various channels and try to “hook”. Way to wash the white identity. This has become a "slot" for external criticism, and it is also the target of this regulation.
Easy-to-use vehicles have revealed that the number of drivers on the platform has reached more than 53,000, and it has exceeded 10,000 in Beijing alone, and is still growing rapidly. Relevant personnel insist that these drivers are from regular car rental companies and are easy to join with the company.
However, after investigation, it was found that some drivers did meet the above-mentioned rhetoric, but only accounted for about 1/10; most people directly searched for the car, and then the latter arranged to "hit" at a car rental company. I started to operate on the road. Many drivers can't even figure out the name of the company they are calling.
The driver Ma Qing (a pseudonym) was introduced by a friend in early May this year to join the easy-to-use car. He takes care of his small business as usual during the day, and drives the car out at night and on the rest day to earn a little pocket money. According to him, he only signed a contract with the labor dispatch company designated by the car, and filled out a form with the easy-to-use car. Both documents have been taken away. He failed to keep any certificate.
These documents stipulate that drivers who are in violation of regulations or traffic accidents are not liable for any use of the vehicle. If the traffic control department detains the car on the grounds of "illegal operation", it is impossible to get out of the car with easy access to the car. It is only required to drive the car to the parking lot during training to reduce the risk of being investigated.
They even taught the driver a set of words to deal with. Ma Qing said: "Easy to use the car and we said that if the car is detained, and the traffic police explained that the car is a leasing company, the person is a third-party labor dispatch company, not a private car came out to work."
According to the "Notice" just announced, the owner of a leased vehicle should be a "car rental operator with a license". The use of private vehicles for car rental operations is a violation. This further clarifies that "attaching" does not change the essence of "black car".
The bigger problem that prohibits the provision of drivers is that the Notice emphasizes that “lease operation” and “passenger operation” cannot be confused. At present, all car rental software will be equipped with drivers, which is essentially providing passenger services similar to taxis. Obviously, Does not match the rules.
The "Notice" states: "Car rental refers to the operator's use of the car to the lessee during the agreed time, collecting the rental fee, and not operating the driver's business activities... In the absence of legal passenger transportation qualifications, under the name of car rental It is illegal to operate the business activities."
At present, the drivers of companies such as easy-to-use cars and AA car rentals are mainly divided into two categories: one is a private car owner, the self-contained vehicle joins the car rental platform, the income comes from the fare sharing, and is completely self-financing; the other is a full-time driver, and The third-party labor dispatch company signs the labor contract. In addition to sharing the fare income with the platform, it can also obtain a small amount of fixed wages on a monthly basis and enjoy welfare insurance.
If the "Notice" finally falls, then whether these drivers can keep their jobs depends on whether their platform has the qualification for passenger transportation. Up to now, among the major car rental software, only the smaller PP car rental expressly has this qualification, and the larger easy-to-use car, AA car rental, etc. have not yet responded.
According to the logic of easy to use the car, because the driver only temporarily "borrowed the car" to pull the job, there is no cash transaction in the whole process, there is no problem of illegal passengers. It seems that it hopes to circumvent all policy barriers and elute the notoriety of "the biggest black car company" through this complex and embarrassing architecture.
Among the other car rental software, Uber related people refused to comment on the "Notice", and companies such as fast taxis and Didi taxis planning to enter the car rental market also did not comment.
Some insiders believe that this regulatory target is clear, pointing to the "black car wash white" behavior of "not filing according to regulations, all kinds of private cars are gathered under the name", the industry leader will be the first to bear the brunt. But in fact, if the regulations without drivers are strictly enforced, not only is it easy to use the car, but the entire car rental industry will face a full reshuffle, and there will be no eggs under the nest.