‘China mulls serious penalties for Didi after market debut’

Chinese regulators are considering serious penalties for Didi Global Inc. after the ride-hailing giant’s New York initial public offering (IPO) last month, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

Regulators view Didi’s decision to go public despite pushback from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) as a challenge to Beijing’s authority, the report quoted sources as saying.

Didi did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Its shares dropped 7% on Thursday.

The CAC last week said officials from at least seven departments sent on-site teams to conduct a cybersecurity review of Didi.

Regulators are weighing a range of potential punishments, including a fine, suspension of certain operations or the introduction of a state-owned investor for Didi, according to Bloomberg News.

Earlier this month, the CAC launched a data-related cybersecurity probe into Didi just two days after the company raised $4.4 billion from its New York IPO.

Regulators also ordered Didi to remove its apps in China, which Didi said might hurt its revenue.

Didi, which is also backed by technology investment giants Alibaba, Tencent and Uber, was founded in 2012 by Cheng Wei as Didi Dache, a taxi-hailing app. (Reuters)