INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
The Didi Chuxing app is the world's most popular ride-hailing service
China's leading car-hailing firm is overhauling its service following the murder of one of its users.It is suspending its carpooling
service at night, while it is considering making an audio recording of all journeys.The proposals were made 10 days after a 21-year-old air
stewardess was killed after booking a ride via Didi Chuxing's Hitch app in the city of Zhengzhou.The government had accused the firm of
putting profit before passenger safety."Some ride-hailing companies have not assumed the necessary social responsibilities, but have
indulged in violations of the interests of their drivers and passengers," said a notice posted on the Ministry of Transport's
Mandarin-language website last Friday."These companies only use online vehicles as a tool to increase valuation
They do not take the feelings of the people to their hearts, they only look at the faces of investors."Didi Chuxing claims to be the world's
largest ride-hailing service, with more than 450 million users and 21 million drivers
It offers 13 different services and Hitch - its carpooling option - pairs riders travelling in the same direction.The young woman - Li
Mingzhu - was found dead earlier this month after hailing a Hitch service.The driver - a 26-year-old male who abandoned his vehicle and
jumped in a river - has since also been found dead, according to the South China Morning Post.Some reports suggest that the suspect had
stolen his father's Hitch account.Media captionCheng Wei (left) tells the TheIndianSubcontinent's Karishma Vaswani about his plans to take
Didi Chuxing globalThe Hitch service has previously faced criticism from users who complain that the app allows drivers to leave comments on
their profiles regarding their appearance.Currently drivers are vetted through verification of personal ID, driving licence and vehicle
registration certificates as well as background checks.The firm said that it would now also implement the following changes to its Hitch
service:take down all personalised tags and ratings features that are part of the serviceall publicly-displayed profile pictures will be
replaced with a system-generated default imagedriver facial recognition to be made compulsory for every tripAnd for all its services, it
said it would do the following:every driver must pass a facial recognition test every day when they start the emergency help function will
be redesigned and displayed more prominently in the appa report and reward programme to encourage all users to report mismatch casesThe firm
is also considering recording audio and possibly filming each ride, both of which would be an opt-in measure.Didi Chuxing counts Apple among
its investors and recently received a licence to test self-driving cars in California, a year after it opened a Silicon Valley research lab
to develop autonomous driving technology.
