INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Didi Chuxing inter-city carpooling service will resume night operations on a limited basis about a month after a female passenger was
allegedly murdered by an unregistered driver who accessed the platform using his father account
Called Didi Hitch, the service will return on June 15 with new safety measures, including one that only allows drivers to serve passengers
of the same sex during late night hours
Didi Hitch will also began piloting a new feature later this month called &guardian mode& (not &escort mode& as reported by some
publications) that automatically shares ride details with a passenger emergency contacts.
The company says Didi Hitch will resume partial
nighttime service between the hours of 10PM to 12AM and 5AM to 6AM on June 15, but with what Didi says is a &tentative safety measure.&
During those times, drivers will only be able to accept ride requests made by passengers of the same sex
In other words, male drivers can only accept male passengers, while female drivers can only accept female passengers.
Guardian mode will
launch on June 22 as a smale-scale pilot
When a passenger turns it on, their route is automatically shared with their emergency contacts
Didi also says its platform can monitor routes in real time and &intervene in case of any unusual activity.& Another new feature, called the
shared information card, will launch on the same day and display photos of both the driver and passenger and vehicle information, with the
aim of allowing both parties to verify each other identities.
DiDi also said it will start trialing a voice recording feature for its other
services, including Express, Select, ExpressPool and Minibus, in some cities.
One of the most highly-valued startups in the world, Didi now
claims about 30 million daily rides and 21 million driver partners
For some passengers, however, these new safety measures may not be enough to reassure them
For one thing, last month murder meant that the alleged perpetrator was able to overcome several safety measures
First, he used his father verified driver account to access the platform
Secondly, Didi Chuxing facial recognition technology, which it has used since 2016 to verify drivers when they first sign up and then when
they log in to start shifts, failed
Didi also said that the account had received a sexual harassment complaint before the murder, though it was unclear if that was while the
father or son was using it
Didi apparently failed to contact the account despite making five efforts, but the platform nevertheless continued to allow it to accept
rides.
While the new safeguards might placate some users, they don&t address the core issues brought up by the murder: making sure
potentially dangerous people aren&t allowed on the platform in the first place, or are dealt with promptly when complaints surface
This is not the first time a murder has been linked to a Didi driver
Two years ago a driver allegedly confessed to robbing and killing a female passenger in Shenzhen.
In a statement emailed to TechCrunch, a
DiDi spokesperson said:
&After revamping our core safety functions (including enhanced facial recognition, upgraded in-app emergency
buttons, and many more), we are taking cautious steps to gradually extend DiDi Hitch service hours in response to demands from users
This recent update will increase the range of mobility options available to passengers during these hours.
As we do so, DiDi Hitch is
trialing with a number of safety initiatives based on feedback and advice from riders, drivers and other members of the public in China
We understand some of the tentative initiatives that have attracted a lot of public support in this round of consultation might have never
We will closely monitor and review the results from such experiments with the public, and make continuous adjustments
Our focus is on ensuring the Hitch service is brought back in a safe and responsible way; and that users understand&and join us as we work
through&the challenges involved in providing sustainable, fair and safe mobility services
The Hitch and other teams will continue to work around the clock for ever more satisfactory solutions
We will keep you posted.&
TechCrunch has asked for further information about the sex ratio of drivers on Didi platform, since if they are
predominantly male (as is the case with many taxi or ride-sharing services), then that may impact how many female passengers are able to get
a late-night ride using Hitch, and will update this article if we hear back.
DiDi also confirmed today that it has placed RMB 1 million
(about $150,000 ) into a fiduciary account of the Beijing Global Law Office to reward informants who are able to give information that can
help police solve the case
if no information or evidence has been confirmed by police by September 1, then Didi says the money will be donated to the China Foundation
for Justice and Courage, which is overseen by the Ministry of Public Security.
