Chauffeurs complain about Didi's new rules

A fleet of drivers from the ride-booking app Kuaidi One, disgruntled at the reduction of benefits by the company, has stopped working in Shanghai, the CNR website reported on Tuesday.

The drivers complained that the payment system and the charges by the company caused them to switch over to Didi's platform, and the Kuaidi One app will be closed.

Didi will charge the drivers 120 yuan per day, and will pay 95 yuan per day instead of 1,900 yuan per month as regular pay. Drivers must complete certain rated tasks, the drivers said.

Didi's business volume is double that of Kuaidi One, so the number of drivers available to customers will not decline, said the firm. If the drivers are not willing to switch services, Didi will give compensation to the drivers.

The highest compensation will be 10,000 yuan for drivers who worked for Kuaidi One for more than 6 months, 5,000 yuan to drivers who worked for 2 to 6 months, and 1,000 yuan to drivers who worked for less than 2 months, the company said.

After switching services to Didi, the 18,000 yuan pension insurance should be paid by the drivers, said Li, a chauffeur who worked for Kuaidi One in Shanghai. Before the move, the insurance was paid for by the company.

The drivers have to work more than 15 hours per day to complete the rated tasks, with some even working for 20 hours, so most of the chauffeurs suffer from fatigue, having driven every day to get 5,000 yuan per month, Li added. In addition, Didi will layoff 10 percent of drivers who are ranked the lowest based on performance.

Now, the coupons offered to clients and the bonuses for drivers by Didi are meager, and it has raised the percentage it takes from earnings from 20 percent to 22 percent, said drivers.

A lot of chauffeurs are considering quitting, a chauffeur in Beijing said.

Kuaidi One is a branch of the Kuaidi taxi-hailing app, which offers pickup services with luxury cars and chauffeur services. As the top two Chinese mobile taxi-hailing app operators Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache announced a merger in February this year, the licensed car for hire services have been integrating.