Some users of Uber in the Chinese mainland said Tuesday that fares for the U.S.-based ride-hailing service had risen just a day after former competitor Didi Chuxing announced it reached an agreement to acquire Uber China.
A white-collar worker surnamed Wang in Beijing complained that fees on Tuesday morning had almost doubled overnight.
"Previously, it cost about 10 yuan ($1.5) for a ride to work, which for me is about 4 to 5 kilometers. But today the fare jumped to 17 yuan," Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Other passengers had a similar experience. One named Qilong provided a screenshot of Uber China's user interface as of Monday afternoon on his Sina microblog account. "The fare is 13 yuan, up 5 yuan compared with Sunday afternoon. I can't accept that, so I took the subway instead," Qi said in the post.
Both linked the rise to the anticipated Didi-Uber merger. The merger will yield a dominant market share of 93.1 percent in China's online ride-hailing industry, domestic news portal sina.com said on Tuesday.
Neither company had responded to interview requests of the Global Times as of press time.
Domestic news portal sohu.com on Tuesday reported that Didi Chuxing will focus on improving users' experiences for a long period after the deal goes through, with continued subsidies for passengers and drivers.
"Considering the two platforms' dominant positions, customers in the long run are likely to gradually lose their bargaining power. Higher fares and lower subsidies … will be a normal development in the near future," He Weiwen, an executive council member at the China Society for TWO Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
"But Chinese consumers have been spoiled by subsidies, and probably this is a good way to help them kick this unhealthy habit," He noted.
MOFCOM awaits companies' filing
The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) hasn't received any filing from China's leading ride-hailing service providers, Didi Chuxing and Uber China, about their announced business concentration, the MOFCOM said on Tuesday.
"In line with the Anti-Monopoly Law, as well as rules published by the State Council, [China's cabinet], mergers that reach the threshold of notification stipulated must notify the MOFCOM beforehand, otherwise the concentration will not be allowed," Shen Danyang, spokesman for the MOFCOM, told a press briefing on Tuesday.
In the latest announcement, Didi Chuxing said neither company had yet made a profit in China, and the revenue of Uber China in fiscal 2015 didn't reach the regulated standard for filing a notice, domestic news portal qq.com reported on Tuesday.
