Cities Force Car-Hire Apps to Hit the Brakes

(Beijing) – Authorities in several cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing and Shenyang have responded to licensing investigations and complaints from furious taxi drivers by banning upscale car-hire services offered through smartphone applications.

The crackdown on Yidao Yongche, a service of the search engine Baidu Inc.; Didi Dache, run by messaging giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.; and Kuaidi Dache, a unit of e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.; followed brief walkouts by cabbies in several cities.