As public appetite for food delivery has grown in Chinese cities, so has the fleet of couriers – often riding banned e-bikes – hired to bring meals to diners' doorsteps.
In the name of reducing the number of accidents resulting from harried deliverymen, Shenzhen traffic police are cracking down on those who violate road regulations.
1,280 food delivery drivers, close to 10 percent of Shenzhen's entire fleet, were suspended for a week starting Monday, Sixth Tone reported.
Police also announced that those who break traffic rules three times will be dismissed from their jobs. Additionally, they'll be added to a blacklist and forbidden from food delivery work for an entire year.
Another regulation states that in areas where a delivery driver was involved in a fatal accident, all food courier services will be suspended for one to five days. During that time, drivers will be required to attend a training before resuming work.
The new mandates are similar to a shared bike crackdown, started last summer in Shenzhen, which aims to keep rule-breakers off the streets for periods as long as six months.
For takeout couriers, however, the new punishments spell not only inconvenience but also increased pressure for an already high-stress occupation.
READ MORE: Man on the Street: Baidu Takeout Deliveryman
[Image via xiaofei.hnr.cn]
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