As of April 30, 2023, a total of 5.406 million ride-hailing driver licenses and 2.300 million vehicle transportation licenses have been issued in various places, an increase of about 1.17 million and 540,000 respectively in one year. In 2022, the number of ride-hailing users will decrease by 15 million year-on-year.
Once upon a time, opening an online ride-hailing was ridiculed by professionals as the last "retreat" of work, just like food delivery and express delivery.
However, as more and more people enter these industries, the choices that were originally regarded as "retreats" begin to "roll up", and ride-hailing begins to show a saturation trend.
From eight or nine thousand yuan to less than six thousand yuan
Chen Yu of Guangzhou has been driving online ride-hailing since 2016, and recently feels that the market has indeed deteriorated.
"In February this year, it was quite good, but many foreigners came to Guangzhou to see that the online car hailing industry was good, so they rented a car to run, and now the list is not easy to accept."
Chen Yu's monthly income last year could reach about 13,000 yuan, excluding the cost of renting a car, leaving 89,000 yuan. But in recent months, the daily turnover has dropped significantly, "in the past, it could reach more than 500 yuan per day, but now it is only three or four hundred yuan."
Zhang Wei said that now that the ride-hailing market is becoming more and more competitive, he used to work only 12 hours to earn the target income, but now, as the order volume decreases, he has to work at least 14 to 15 hours to complete the task.
Screenshot of the movie "Exchange of Life"
"When I first started in the industry, I could easily earn eight or nine thousand yuan a month, but now I work longer, but I earn less." According to Zhang Wei, after removing various expenses, he receives less than 6,000 yuan a month.
The decline in turnover comes from the decline in order prices caused by multi-platform competition on the one hand, and the decline in the number of orders on the other hand.
Not only that, the involution between platforms has made the track of the ride-hailing industry increasingly crowded, and the first to be affected are the ride-hailing drivers who are on the front line of the industry.
According to Tsinghua University's "2021 China First-tier Cities Travel Platform Survey Report", 75% of ride-hailing drivers travel 7 days a week, 49% of drivers work 8~12 hours a day, and even 31% of drivers work more than 12 hours a day. This year, many drivers have had to continue to travel longer hours each day in order to maintain a similar flow.
The Liuzhou Transportation Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Detachment has calculated an account for ride-hailing drivers - the current market price of leasing a pure electric ride-hailing car is 3,800-4,400 yuan per month, and the charging fee is about 1,000 yuan per month. According to the current average daily operating flow, in the case of working at full load for 30 days per month, the driver's monthly net income is about 3,500 yuan to 4,000 yuan, and does not include other expenses such as social security, and solemnly reminds enterprises and drivers who intend to engage in the ride-hailing industry to fully consider market risks and prudently invest in the ride-hailing market.
The ride-hailing market in many places has entered a saturation period
According to statistics from the Ride-hailing Regulatory Information Interaction System, as of April 30, 2023, a total of 309 ride-hailing platform companies across the country had obtained operating licenses for ride-hailing platforms, an increase of 39 over the same period last year. A total of 5.406 million ride-hailing driver licenses and 2.300 million vehicle transportation licenses were issued in various places, an increase of 3.4% and 2.2% respectively from the previous month, and an increase of about 1.17 million and 540,000 respectively in one year. Data shows that the number of ride-hailing users in 2022 will be 437 million, a year-on-year decrease of 15 million.
Echoing this, Didi's financial report data shows that from March 2020 to March 2021, Didi had 13 million annual active drivers in China, and from March 2022 to March 2023, this number became 19 million, an increase of 6 million in just two years.
At present, many places have successively issued online car saturation warnings, and even directly pressed the pause button.
On March 4, the Zhuhai Transport Bureau issued the "Early Warning Notice on the Business Risks of the E-hailing Taxi Industry", and up to now, the number of licensed e-hailing taxis in Zhuhai has reached nearly 7,500. According to statistical estimates, in the second half of 2021, the average daily operating turnover of online taxi in Zhuhai fell by about 15% compared with 2020, which fully indicates that the number of online taxi in Zhuhai has been saturated, and the industry boom is approaching the warning red line.
On May 15, the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Transportation issued a notice stating that from May 16, 2023, the city will suspend the acceptance of new business for online ride-hailing transport permits.
On May 4, the Sanya Municipal Transportation Bureau issued a notice saying that in recent years, the number of ride-hailing platforms and ride-hailing vehicles in Sanya has grown rapidly, and the transportation capacity has become saturated. From 0:00 on May 5, the acceptance of online ride-hailing business licenses and the issuance of transportation certificates will be suspended.
Prior to this, Dongguan, Wenzhou, Jinan, Suining and other places have successively issued online car saturation warnings. The risk warning issued by Jinan mentioned that "at present, the average daily order volume of online ride-hailing bicycles is less than 10, and the excess number of online ride-hailing vehicles and too many market entities have also adversely affected the safety production of the industry." ”
Industry insiders: Call for the establishment of an exit mechanism for online ride-hailing
As the ride-hailing market in various places becomes increasingly saturated, the call for the establishment of an exit mechanism for ride-hailing is also increasing. Many people in the industry believe that the establishment of an exit mechanism for online ride-hailing can effectively avoid excessive market competition, and at the same time, it will also help to implement dynamic management of the industry and adjust the scale of operation in a timely manner according to market changes.
In fact, as early as a few years ago, many places have explored the establishment of an exit mechanism for online ride-hailing. For example, in 2019, Xiamen launched the "vehicle license" assessment mechanism, and the ride-hailing company issued a warning to the driver that if the number of completed orders did not meet the standard during the assessment period, the platform had the right to cancel the vehicle access agreement, and the "vehicle license" would also be cancelled by the transportation department.
At the end of 2022, Shenzhen explored and established a dynamic adjustment mechanism for the scale of ride-hailing capacity. The mechanism shows that once the average daily order volume of ride-hailing vehicles changes by less than 10%, the average daily order volume of bicycles is less than 11, the mileage utilization rate of cruise vehicles is less than 60%, and 2 of the three conditions are met, an early warning will be triggered for the government's decision-making reference, and its countermeasures include suspending the service of online ride-hailing transportation license and platform operation license.
In addition, at present, some cities have accelerated the process of online ride-hailing compliance. Guangdong asked platforms to stop dispatching orders to drivers without "dual licenses" after May 31. Prior to this, some people who have not yet obtained the qualification of online ride-hailing can also take orders on the platform. "After the tightening of the policy, novices who have just entered the industry may be the first to experience 'labor pains', such as early return of the rented vehicle will involve default and other issues." Some drivers said.
Editor丨Lin Qin Comprehensive China Newsweekly, New Weekly, Shangguan News, Yicaijing, Guanhai News, etc
Picture丨Screenshot of Visual China, OneImage, and the movie "Exchange Life"