Shanghai Set to Spin New Curbs on City’s Bike-Sharing Operators

(Beijing) — Shanghai is looking to introduce more hurdles for the city’s bike-sharing operators, with new draft rules potentially banning children under 12, the heavy set, and those who are very short or tall, in what has become an already fierce marketplace battleground.

Under the proposed draft regulations, bike-sharing rental companies could be forced to keep track of the locations of all their bikes on their apps. This may prove difficult for one of the largest market players, Beijing-based Ofo. Known for its yellow bikes, Ofo bicycles currently only feature GPS-carrying smart locks on a small number of its latest models.

The draft rules outlined by the government-run Shanghai Bicycle Industry Association also say children under 12 years old should be prevented from hiring bikes, which, if enforced, would cut into the size of the overall market.

Other potential restrictions could involve height, with draft proposals dictating that riders should not be taller than 1.95 meters (6 feet, 4 inches) or shorter than 1.45 meters (4 feet, 9 inches). Another proposal outlines banning heavier cyclists weighing 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) or more from using bike-sharing services.

Also under the proposed rules, bicycles would have to be retired after three years of service. This could mean that companies like Mobike, with their robust orange and silver models, might need to rethink building bikes meant to last for more than four years of rough wear and tear.

Another draft regulation which would affect all bike-sharing services is that companies would be required to pay the medical expenses of any party injured by a careless rider of their bikes within seven days. In addition, companies would be required to have five repair personnel for each 1,000 bikes. That translates into 2,250 bike repair personnel in Shanghai alone, which hosts 450,000 online rental bikes.

Shanghai is seeking public comment until mid-April.

The draft law comes a week after the municipality met with six major bike-sharing app operators and urged them to temporarily stop placing additional bikes in the city’s overwhelmed central district.

Fueled with billions of yuan in venture capital, bike sharing firms have been racing to gain strongholds in China’s cities, often trying to outdo their rivals through sheer numbers, leaving cities struggling to keep up with the pace of their expansion.

Southern tech hub Shenzhen was the first city to introduce ground rules for the sector, requiring that bikes be parked properly within designated zones or slots, and imposing a limit on bicycle volumes.

Contact reporter April Ma (fangjingma@caixin.com)