Shanghai government nixes Didi airport ban

Would-be monopolists only manage to extract 96 hours of windfall profits

View from China with an Austrian School of Economics Perspective

Today the Shanghai government traffic administration supervisory committee (市交通委) announced that it was overturning the new regulation issued on January 29st banning online car sharing services such as Didi from ferrying people to and from the Pudong airport. The regulation had been announced by the 上海道路运输管理局 apparently without any warning and or effective date. The ban seems to have been implemented sometime on the 1^st or 2^nd of February.

Announcement of the ban issued on 29 Jan 2024

“Pudong has enough taxis; car sharing services are not needed,” quipped one official to media on Friday.

There was however an exception: A special “airport car service” charging a minimum of 360 yuan per trip. Cushy position for them.

Too bad for them it didn’t last. After 96 hours, for airport passengers it’s back to life as usual. Not sure if the same applies to the officials involved.

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