SHENZHEN is mulling legislation to regulate the operation and parking of shared bicycles. The Shenzhen Municipal Justice Bureau recently issued a notice on its website to solicit public opinion, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

One draft concerning the development of shared bikes targets three major problems, namely unpermitted bike releases, illegal bike parking and delayed disposal of broken bikes.

If found releasing bikes without permission or secretly releasing more bikes than permitted, operators will be fined between 50,000 yuan (US$7,206) and 100,000 yuan by the Municipal Urban Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau and required to recall the bikes. The bureau can seize the bikes if operators fail to reclaim them in a timely manner.

The same penalty will be filed along with a correction for operators who fail to manage unruly parked bicycles or who do not observe rules regarding the reclamation of unusable bikes.

At the same time, residents who presumptuously put shared bikes in public areas will be fined 500 yuan per bike.

Another draft specifies detailed rules on issues including operation, data and deposit management.

The drafts state that shared bikes should be equipped with GPS intelligent locks. Each bike should have a unique electronic code.

Operators should send information of public interest, such as the number of bikes, bike location and order data, to the city’s supervision platform and report bikes’ codes to the Municipal traffic management bureau.

All of the drafts have been published on the website http://sf.sz.gov.cn. Residents can offer suggestions through the website or by sending an email to zhulz@sf.sz.gov.cn.

(Wang Jingli)