Bike Standards

A set of industry standards were released on July 5 to regulate bikesharing service providers.

Shanghai and Tianjin have drafted regulations after consultations with both service providers and bicycle manufacturers. The rules will take effect on October 1.

Bike-sharing companies will be required to adhere to standards on production, operation and maintenance of shared bikes.

The regulations specify a service life of three years for all such bikes and require service providers to hire at least one maintenance employee for every 200 bikes.

They also regulate management of deposits, handling of customer complaints and compensation for users.

More than 10 million shared bikes are now on the streets of cities in China, operated by over 30 companies. Mobike and Ofo take up more than 90 percent of the market.

According to China E-Commerce Research Center, there were 18.86 million people using shared bikes at the end of 2016, compared with 2.45 million in 2015.

More than 2,600 complaints concerning shared bikes were filed in Shanghai in the first four months of 2017, nearly nine times more than in the same period in 2016, according to Ning Hai, Deputy Secretary General of Shanghai Consumer Council.

Delayed return of deposits and advance payments, too many bikes on the road and haphazard parking topped the list of complaints.

Shanghai’s regulations stipulate that deposits and advance payments