A twenty year old girl was killed by a driver of the popular taxi service Didi. Another similar case occurred in May. The police summoned the top management of the company, which has initiated an internal investigation. The Chinese carpooling market is valued at 56 billion dollars Apple and SoftBank among the investors.
Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) – A second murder in a three-month period linked to the Didi's taxis, a popular Chinese carpooling service. On Friday, August 24, a girl was raped and killed by a driver while traveling from the suburbs of the city of Leqing to the nearby county of Yongjia. Last May, a hostess was killed and thrown into a river by a driver. The authorities have put a temporary halt to the service, which is suspended from today.
Meanwhile, the police have already stopped the driver who admitted the crime. The Ministry of Transport stated that the company has "unequivocal responsibilities" in the murder. Yesterday morning, the police summoned the top management of the company to request internal reforms and to make the passenger service safer. The company is held to be co-responsible for the death of the woman. In a statement, the company apologized and promised compensation for the victim's family members.
Didi is considered the Chinese answer to Uber and offers a taxi-on-call service. In 2016, Apple invested a billion dollars in the company. Among the investors there are also SoftBank and the American Booking Holdings Inc. The company is valued at 56 billion dollars and has 550 million users.
"In the last three years since the hitch service was launched, we are lucky to have provided billions of rides,” read a Didi statement released on Sunday. “We are very sorry that the service has to be taken offline temporarily … We are sorry that we let you down because of our own problems.”
After the murder of the hostess in May, Didi tried to renew the service, including the introduction of mandatory facial scanning for all drivers on the app before taking any order. This is to prevent the theft of the identity of registered drivers.