Chinese carpooling giant Didi Chuxing fired two executives and was ordered to suspend one of its services nationwide on Sunday following the alleged report of a woman who was raped and killed by a driver in eastern China.
According to BBC, China's transport ministry together with the national police agency said during a meeting with Didi that the transport app has "unshirkable responsibility" on its passenger who got raped and killed by one of its drivers in the city of Wenzhou, province of Zhejiang.
In a statement cited over at Reuters, the ride-hailing giant said that it was "immensely saddened by the tragedy" and admitted for having fallen "short of [the people's] expectations." "...we won't shirk from our responsibilities," Didi went on to say.
In line with this, the company issues a halt order of its Hitch system for re-evaluation beginning on Monday, August 27. Subsequent reports pointed out the statement from a Didi spokesperson who said that the transport service will complete a new compliance operation which will be made open for inspection on September 1.
Victim of the Didi Driver
Report from Wenzhou police specified that a woman who is only known by the surname Zhao, hailed a Didi ride in the early morning of Friday, last week.
The suspect, a 27-year-old who was only identified as Zhong, was detained by authorities on Saturday morning following his confession on the rape and murder of Zhao.
The body was later on recovered in a location described by Zhong to the police. Further investigation was conducted.
According to the local police, Zhong had no prior criminal record and had duly provided all the clearances and documentation required before joining Didi's fleet. However, there had been a series of complaints filed by a number of his passengers. One of which points out to a group of hailers who was purportedly taken to a remote place by the suspected driver.
In light of this recent tragedy, Didi admitted that there's still a lot of improvement that needs to be implemented in their customer service processes which, they said, still has "many deficiencies," such as the "failure to act swiftly on the previous passenger's complaint." Another issue that the company looks to address is the "cumbersome and rigid process of information sharing with the police."
The ministry, meanwhile, demands that Didi should start taking "concrete steps" to ensure the safety of its passengers.
Didi's Hitch has made over 1 billion journeys around the country within the span of three years.
