This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.
By Yuzhou Hu
Following the recent debut of a panic button and automatic audio recording for all rides, Didi Chuxing, China's largest car-hailing company, has launched another function to increase passenger safety. That is, to allow passengers to block unpleasant drivers and vice versa.
The addition of this new feature was announced via an official notice on October 10. According to Sixth Tone, the function is currently in the trial phase. Passengers and drivers can add one another to their 'blacklist,' and lodge a complaint, add a rating or cancel the order through the app. During the trial run, the blockage cannot be undone and will stay in place for 12 months.
"We will continue to elevate the safety of our products and make further efforts to secure the deserved rights of both passengers and drivers," Didi wrote in its statement. "At the same time, we sincerely hope passengers and drivers can reach a mutual respect and understanding during their trip and therefore achieve safe travel."
Image via Matt Bossons/That's
Despite some applause towards Didi's latest effort to offer protection to both passengers and drivers, a large number of netizens are still not satisfied, claiming the new feature is doing nothing but scratching the surface.
"I don't see how blocking for merely 12 months can have any real effect. Shouldn't it be permanent?" one netizen complained on The Paper. "It is no use (blocking problematic drivers). The murder victims only met the drivers once, and that got them killed. Did they a have chance to block the drivers?" another netizen criticized.
Didi Chuxing has recently been under a spotlight, following the vicious murders of female passengers by Didi drivers. While Didi has attempted to win back the public's trust by introducing a series of safety features, their credibility took another hit when one Didi driver accidentally let a passenger drink his urine earlier this month, reports Shine.
[Cover image via Johannes Rapprich/Pexels]
This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).
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