Bluegogo is the latest Chinese bike-sharing company to go out of service after the company struck a deal with Biker, which will continue to operate the bikes. But Bluegogo users have complained about being unable to recover the cash they deposited to sign up for the service. Legal experts have weighed in on the controversy calling for national laws to regulate the industry and protect users' rights.
According to
The Paper, bike-sharing companies generally hold cash deposits in a dedicated bank account, but some just amass the money in their head office. There are no laws or industry-wide regulations governing how deposits should be dealt with, and no transparency, said Wang Yue, an Internet expert. He said companies often invest the deposits if their business cannot turn a profit.
As for recovering those deposits, Yang Lixin, director of the Research Center of Civil and Commercial Jurisprudence of Renmin University of China, told The Paper the courts should settle the disputes. While netizens say legal fees are far higher than one user’s cash deposit, meaning many will just accept the loss, Yang argues this thinking protects companies from punishment.
Peking University legal expert Jiang Min’an said users are increasingly using Alibaba's sesame 'social credit' system to avoid the need to pay a deposit. Jiang said national-level regulations should be rolled out to enable cities to better manage bike sharing and safeguard users’ rights.
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