Guide sharing economy onto the right track

IN RESPONSE TO complaints by passengers at the doubling or even tripling of fares as Spring Festival draws near, Didi Chuxing, China's largest ride-sharing platform, announced on Monday that it will ban its drivers from collecting the "dispatching fee", a tip paid by passengers, during the holiday period. Beijing News commented on Wednesday:

The fact that it is hard to hail a ride is not unexpected given the 25 percent decline in the number of Didi drivers as a result of the recently introduced restrictions and the 30 percent increase in ride requests, as the Beijing-based car-hailing giant explained. This highlights a dilemma facing the burgeoning internet-based sharing economy, which is struggling to strike a balance between market-oriented innovation and administrative supervision.

The rise of ride-sharing companies and home swaps offers a fresh perspective of how to make the most of idle resources, be they cars and houses. Didi's unmatched success is a case in point. It and its domestic rivals have made notable progress in bridging the gap between rising demand and insufficient supply, particularly in the mega-cities where the number of traditional taxis is restricted.