Government to protect customers

The central government will formulate detailed policies to regulate the bike-sharing industry and protect customers’ rights, the Ministry of Transport said on Thursday in the wake of reports about a bike-sharing business collapsing and failing to return deposit money.

The ministry noticed the incident and provided guidance to the local transport bureau to handle it under local leadership, ministry spokesman Wu Chungeng said.

The ministry, alongside other government bodies, will formulate detailed policies under a national guideline, to cope with the problem, he said — adding that it was necessary “to take targeted precautions and prevent risks”.

The central government released a guideline in August to encourage and regulate the booming bike-sharing industry. One service provider, Bluegogo, has become a target of complaints recently after failing to return deposits of 99 yuan ($15) to customers.

Media reports said the company has been disbanded and owes nearly 200 million yuan to bicycle manufacturers. It also failed to pay employees’ salaries, the reports said.

Shared bicycles from companies like Mobike, Ofo and Bluegogo, have proliferated in cities since last year. By July, China had nearly 70 companies in the shared bicycle business, with more than 16 million shared bikes on the street. User registrations surpassed 130 million, according to the ministry.