Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry

The General Office of the State Council on deepening reform

Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry

Guoban Fa [2016] No. 58

The people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and all ministries, commissions, and agencies directly under the State Council:

  In order to implement the central government’s decision-making and deployment on comprehensively deepening reform, actively and steadily promote the reform of the taxi industry, encourage innovation, promote transformation, and better meet the travel needs of the people, with the approval of the State Council, the following opinions are hereby proposed.

  I. Guiding ideology and basic principles

  (1) Guiding ideology. Deeply implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the series of important speeches by the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader, implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, in accordance with the overall layout of the "Five in One" and the "Four Comprehensive" strategic layout, firmly establish and implement the development concept of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, give full play to the role of the market mechanism and the guiding role of the government, adhere to the basic idea of giving priority to the development of public transportation and moderately developing taxis, promote the structural reform of the taxi industry, effectively improve the service level and regulatory capacity, and strive to build a diversified and differentiated travel service system, promote the sustainable and healthy development of the taxi

  (2) Basic principles.

  Adhere to the passenger-oriented. Take ensuring the safe travel of passengers and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the people as the starting point and end point of reform, and provide the public with safe, convenient, comfortable and economical personalized travel services.

  Adhere to reform and innovation.Seize the favorable opportunity to implement the "Internet +" action, adhere to the problem orientation, promote the transformation and upgrading of cruise taxis, standardize the operation of online rental cars, and promote the integrated development of the two business models.

  Adhere to overall consideration. Coordinate public transportation and taxis, coordinate innovation and development with safety and stability, coordinate the development of new and old business models, coordinate the interests of passengers, drivers and enterprises, and promote reform step by step, actively and carefully.

  Adhere to legal norms. Correctly handle the relationship between the government and the market, strengthen the rule of law thinking, improve the legal system of the taxi industry, promote industry reform in accordance with the law, maintain a fair competition market order, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties.

  Adhere to territorial management. The urban people’s government is the main body responsible for taxi management. It should give full play to autonomy and creativity, and explore a management model that is in line with the actual development of the local taxi industry.

  Second, clarify the positioning of the taxi industry

  (3) Scientifically positioning taxi services. Taxi is an integral part of the urban comprehensive transportation system, a supplement to urban public transportation, and provides personalized transportation services for the public.Taxi services mainly include cruises, online reservations, and other means.The urban people’s government should give priority to the development of public transportation, develop taxis moderately, and optimize the urban transportation structure.It is necessary to coordinate the development of cruise taxis (hereinafter referred to as cruise cars) and online rental cars (hereinafter referred to as online taxi-hailing), implement dislocation development and differentiated management, and provide quality and diverse transportation services for the public.It is necessary to take into account the characteristics of large, medium and small cities, the diverse travel needs of the public and the development orientation of taxis, comprehensively consider factors such as population size, economic development level, urban traffic congestion, and taxi mileage utilization rate, and rationally grasp the scale of taxi transportation capacity and the share ratio in the urban comprehensive transportation system. Establish a dynamic monitoring and adjustment mechanism to gradually realize market regulation. New and updated taxis, priority is given to the use of new energy vehicles.

  III. Deepening the reform of cruise vehicles

  (4) Reform the management system of the right to operate. All new rental car operating rights shall be subject to term restrictions, and no further indefinite restrictions shall be imposed. The specific period shall be determined by the city people’s government according to the actual local situation. All new rental car operating rights shall be used free of charge, and the operating entity shall not be changed. If the existing rental car operating rights need to be changed within the term, the modification procedures shall be handled in accordance with the conditions and procedures stipulated by laws and regulations, and no speculation or unauthorized transfer shall be allowed. For existing rental car operating rights that do not specify the specific operating period or have been used for compensation, the city people’s government shall comprehensively consider all factors, scientifically formulate a transition plan, reasonably determine the operating period, and gradually cancel the paid use fee. Establish and improve the operation rights allocation and management system guided by service quality and reputation, and withdraw the operation rights in accordance with relevant regulations if the period of operation rights expires or there are major service quality problems, major safety production liability accidents, serious illegal business activities, and unqualified service quality and reputation assessments during the operation process.

  (5) Completing the benefit distribution system. Taxi operators shall sign employment contracts or business contracts with drivers in accordance with the law. Contractors who adopt the contracting mode of operation and self-employed individuals who have obtained the right to operate shall obtain the qualification of taxi drivers, register for employment according to regulations and directly engage in operational activities. It is necessary to use Internet technology to better build a business model in which enterprises and drivers share operational risks and reasonably distribute benefits. Encourage, support and guide taxi enterprises, industry associations to negotiate on an equal footing with taxi drivers and trade unions, and reasonably determine and dynamically adjust the taxi contract fee standard or quota task according to factors such as operating costs and changes in freight rates. If the existing contract fee standard or quota task is too high, it should be reduced. It is necessary to protect the legitimate rights and interests of drivers and build a harmonious labor relationship. It is strictly forbidden for taxi companies to charge high collateral from drivers, and the existing collateral should be reduced if it is too high.

  (6) Straighten out the price formation mechanism. All localities can implement government pricing or government-guided pricing for cruise car freight rates according to the actual situation in the region, and incorporate them into the government pricing catalogue according to law. Taking into account the operating costs of taxis, the income levels of residents and drivers, traffic conditions, service quality and other factors, scientifically formulate and timely adjust the level and structure of taxi freight rates. Establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism for taxi freight rates, improve pricing rules, improve the linkage method between freight rates and fuel prices, and give full play to the leverage role of freight rates in adjusting the supply and demand relationship in the taxi transportation market.

  (7) Promote the transformation and upgrading of the industry.Encourage cruise car operators and online taxi booking operators (hereinafter referred to as ride-hailing platform companies) to implement corporatized management in accordance with modern enterprise systems through mergers, restructurings, and absorption of shares, so as to achieve the integrated development of new and old business models. Encourage cruise car enterprises to transform and provide online ride-hailing services. Encourage cruise cars to provide operation services through telecommunications, Internet and other e-hailing service methods, promote the use of non-cash payment methods that meet financial standards, expand service functions, and facilitate public ride-hailing.Encourage self-employed people to form a company with a certain scale, implement organizational management, improve service quality, reduce management costs, and enhance anti-risk ability. Encourage business operators to strengthen branding, take the initiative to disclose service standards and quality commitments, carry out safety, integrity, and high-quality service creation activities, strengthen service quality management, and provide high-quality services.

  IV. Standardize the development of online car-hailing and private passenger car sharing

  (Eight) standardize the development of online car-hailing.Online car-hailing platform companies are providers of transportation services, and should have online and offline service capabilities, assume carrier responsibility and corresponding social responsibility. Drivers and their vehicles providing online car-hailing services should meet the basic conditions for providing passenger transportation services. Market-adjusted prices are implemented for online car-hailing, and government-guided prices may be implemented if the city people’s government deems it necessary.

  (9) Regulate the business behavior of online car-hailing. Online car-hailing platform companies shall make full use of Internet information technology, strengthen the production, operation and management of service vehicles and drivers, and continuously improve the ride experience and service level. Provide operation services in accordance with relevant state regulations and standards, reasonably determine the metering method, ensure the safety of operation and the legitimate rights and interests of passengers, and shall not engage in improper price behavior. Strengthen network and information security protection, establish and improve data security management systems, collect, use and protect personal information in compliance with the law, and shall not disclose sensitive information involving national security. The personal information collected and the business data generated shall be stored and used in the Chinese mainland. Online car-hailing platform companies shall safeguard and protect the legitimate rights and interests of drivers.

  (10) Regulate private passenger car sharing. Private passenger car sharing, also known as carpooling and ride-sharing, is a shared mode of travel where the ride-sharing service provider publishes travel information in advance, and people with the same travel route choose to take the ride-sharing service provider’s passenger car, share part of the travel cost or help each other for free. Private passenger car sharing is conducive to alleviating traffic congestion and reducing air pollution. City people’s governments should encourage and regulate its development, formulate corresponding regulations, and clarify the rights and obligations of the three parties, including the ride-sharing service provider, the ride-sharing person, and the ride-sharing information service platform.

  Create a good market environment

  (11) Improve service facilities. The urban people’s government shall incorporate comprehensive taxi service areas, stopping points, waiting berths and other service facilities into the urban infrastructure building plan, make overall and reasonable arrangements, conscientiously organize and implement them, and properly solve the actual difficulties of taxi drivers in parking, dining, toileting, etc. In airports, stations, docks, shopping malls, hospitals and other large public places and residential areas, cruise bus waiting areas shall be demarcated to facilitate taxi operations and better provide services for passengers to travel.

  (12) Strengthen the construction of the credit system. It is necessary to implement the service quality credit assessment system and the driver qualification management system, formulate taxi service standards, credit management systems for operators and employees, and clarify the basic requirements for operating in accordance with the law and providing honest services.Actively use the Internet, big data, cloud computing and other technologies to establish an evaluation system for taxi operators and drivers, strengthen the recording of information such as violations of laws and regulations, dishonesty, complaints and reports, and passenger service evaluations, as an important basis for taxi operators and employees to enter and exit, and incorporate it into the national credit information sharing platform and the national enterprise credit information publicity system.

  (13) Strengthen market supervision.It is necessary to innovate supervision methods, simplify licensing procedures, and implement online processing.It is necessary to disclose information such as the main body, quantity, mode of acquisition and change of operating rights of taxi operators, conduct regular taxi service quality assessments and release them to the public, and further improve the transparency of industry supervision. It is necessary to establish a joint supervision and law enforcement mechanism led by the government, with the participation of departments and the linkage of blocks, and a joint punishment and exit mechanism. It is necessary to establish and improve the supervision platform, strengthen the supervision of the whole process, investigate and punish the behavior of taxis that hinder fair competition in the market and price violations in accordance with the law, and severely crack down on illegal operations, gathering crowds to disrupt social order, or inciting organizations to disrupt the operation order and damage the public

  (14) Strengthen the construction of the legal system. It is necessary to accelerate the improvement of laws, regulations and standards for the management and operation of taxis, clarify management responsibilities and legal responsibilities, standardize qualification conditions and business licenses, and form a relatively complete system of laws and regulations for the management of taxis, business services and market supervision.

  (15) Implement the main responsibility of the local people’s government. All localities should establish a reform leadership mechanism to strengthen the organization and leadership of deepening the reform of the taxi industry. It is necessary to formulate specific implementation plans, clarify work objectives, refine and decompose tasks, establish relevant departments, trade unions, industry associations and other multi-party joint working mechanisms, and steadily advance various reform tasks. It is necessary to strengthen social communication, smooth the channels for interest appeals, take the initiative to release information, respond to social concerns, build consensus on reform, and create a good public opinion environment. For major decisions in reform, it is necessary to carry out social stability threat and risk assessments, improve emergency plans, prevent and resolve various contradictions, and maintain social stability.

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  (This article is published publicly.)