Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    DIDI Chuxing, the largest app-based taxi service platform in China, said it won’t shirk responsibility over the death of a woman, who was robbed and killed by a driver Monday.

    Didi has set up a team to cooperate with the police investigation and contacted the family of the victim Zhong Shao, 24, a teacher at Bogang Primary School in Bao’an District.

    “We will bear the responsibility we should bear and handle the aftermath with sincerity to help the family through this difficult period,” Didi said.

    Zhong was killed after hailing a ride to a school in Shajing, Bao’an District.

    Before getting in the car, Zhong took a photo of the plate number and sent it to her family.

    The family couldn’t contact her later. The driver canceled the order through the Didi service around 10 p.m. The family reported to the police that Zhong might be in trouble.

    Police arrested the driver, Pan, 24, in an apartment in Bao’an District on May 3.

    A preliminary investigation showed that Pan used his ID, driver’s license and car license with a plate number B6S8N3 to register on Didi’s Carpool service and was approved as a Didi driver.

    But Pan drove the car with forged plate 2S8N3, which is registered in Zhuhai but looks similar to the number on the Shenzhen car plate.

    “App-based car hailing is a new thing. It needs effective regulations, especially screening the qualifications of drivers,” a netizen identified as Shenzhenhesheng8 said on a microblog.

    Pan Xiang, a partner with the Guangdong Zhong’an Law Firm, said app-based cab service platforms should bear liability when riders’ rights are infringed if they fail to check the qualifications of drivers and their vehicles.

    The Shenzhen transport commission and police required five ride-hailing platforms, including Didi, to tighten background checks and screen drivers in March this year after an investigation showed among Shenzhen’s app drivers, 1,425 had a history of drug use, 1,661 had significant criminal records, and one driver was mentally ill and had once been involved in a traffic accident.

    Didi later said it expelled an undisclosed number of drivers who were found to have a history of drug use, mental illness or significant criminal records after receiving a list from Shenzhen police.

    Didi also said it has stopped giving orders to drivers engaged in taxi service with non-local registered vehicles.