Why it's so hard to hail a taxi in China?

 

Reaction of Didi Chuxing

Didi Chuxing reacts via its official Weibo account on Monday. [Photo/CRIENGLISH.com]

Didi Chuxing said on Monday it will periodically stop suggesting customers to pay tips on the taxi hailing interface to try to control the greed of drivers and ease demand during the "Chunyun," which is the annual 40-day travel period surrounding the Chinese New Year.

Didi is warning the move is likely going to mean longer wait times for taxis.

So why it's difficult to hail a car?

Luo Wen, Senior Product Director with Didi Chuxing, said the reason is an unbalanced relationship between demand and supply.

Luo said as the number of customers has been increasing since January 13th when the "Chunyun" started, while the number of drivers has dropped, with many of them already heading home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Another reason behind the supply shortage is the government's new regulation that requires drivers to be locally-registered citizens, which excludes migrants to serve as Didi drivers.

On top of the lack of supply, Tan Jing, former co-head of Uber China's strategic operations, said the root cause is the way orders are dispatched to drivers on the platform.