Good supervision can end taxi woes

The debate over taxi services, cabbies' incomes and passenger complaints is not over. Thousands of cabbies in major cities such as Shanghai have gone on strikes against Uber-like apps, including the Didi Taxi and Kuaidi Taxi, despite the Ministry of Transport banning the use of private cars as taxis earlier this month.

But the fact is, companies providing Internet-based car services are yet to enter the taxi or car rental business in China. Current regulations allow taxi companies to operate vehicles that can seat seven or fewer passengers. On the basis of mileage and duration, taxi companies can offer "cruising" and "appointment-oriented" services. The former means picking up passengers at random and the latter means providing taxis on appointments, for which luxury vehicles could be used.

The management of car rental business in China varies from region to region, which means they are largely dependent on local rules.