China to conduct nationwide inspection on ride-hailing companies

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China will conduct comprehensive inspections on all ride-hailing service companies, the transportation ministry said on Friday, after a driver from the dominant ride-hailing firm, Didi Chuxing, murdered a 20-year-old passenger.

A Didi Chuxing driver checks the information on the application in his car in Beijing, China August 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The inspection, starting from Sept. 5, will cover all ride-hailing service platforms nationwide, transportation ministry said in the statement.

Didi’s case sparked outrage and raised concerns about safety in the fast-growing ride-hailing sector in China, prompting the company to say that it would suspend its Hitch service indefinitely until it comes up with a safety mechanism acceptable to its users.

Reporting by Meg Shen and Twinnie Siu

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