Online car-hailing Nanchang West Station requires 2 yuan to pick up passengers： parking fee or service fee？ Who should pay？

　　"I took a Didi at Nanchang West Railway Station, and the driver told me after driving for a while that I need to charge an additional 2 yuan for parking." Recently, a number of passengers reported to Surging News that they encountered arbitrary charges for taking online taxis at Nanchang West Railway Station.

　　The reporter’s investigation found that the so-called "parking fee" was a "service fee" paid by the online taxi driver to the Nanchang branch of Beijing Taixiang Intelligent Transportation Technology Co., Ltd., but was eventually passed on to the passengers. Behind the charging phenomenon, whether the fee is a "parking fee" or a "service fee", and who should bear it, has also triggered a series of discussions.

　　The high-speed rail station was charged an additional "2 yuan parking fee"

　　"I took a Didi at Nanchang West Railway Station, and the driver told me after driving for a while that I need to charge an additional 2 yuan for parking." Recently, Mr. Liu (a pseudonym) from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, reported to Surging News that he encountered arbitrary charges for playing Didi at Nanchang West Railway Station. The reporter noticed that Mr. Liu’s experience is not an exception. Many netizens on Xiaohongshu also reported that they started from the online car-hailing point in the underground parking lot of Nanchang West Railway Station South Square and were charged an additional 2 yuan for parking.

　　Starting from Nanchang West Railway Station to play Didi, why do you need to charge an additional 2 yuan for parking? On July 19, surging news reporters came to Nanchang West Railway Station’s online car-hailing point for on-the-spot investigation.

　　The reporter opened the Didi Chuxing APP on the spot and selected the departure point as the pick-up point for the online car, and the destination as a community near Nanchang West Railway Station. A few minutes after placing the order, the platform showed that the driver had received the order, and the driver took the initiative to call to inform him that "the road is a little blocked, please be patient". After a while, the platform prompted that the driver had arrived at the pick-up point and started a 3-minute countdown to get on the bus, but the vehicle did not appear at this time, and the real-time positioning also showed that the vehicle was not at the pick-up point. After the 3-minute countdown ended, the vehicle still did not

　　Later, the reporter chose the same destination to place the order again. During the order process, there was no prompt on the Didi Chuxing platform about the "2 yuan parking fee". After successfully getting into the car and driving for a while, the driver told the reporter that he had just entered the parking lot of Nanchang West Railway Station and paid 2 yuan parking fee, which needs to be paid by the passenger.

　　"The platform informed us that this fee can be added to the order and borne by the passengers." Faced with a reporter’s question about the fee, the driver explained that due to the renovation and upgrade of the passenger area of Nanchang West Station, since June 20, all online car-hailing cars have to pay 2 yuan each time they enter the parking lot of Nanchang West Station. "This virtually increases the operating cost of the online car-hailing driver. I had 2 orders yesterday. At the end, I forgot to add the parking fee to the order. In the end, I could only bear it myself." The driver added, "The wool comes from the sheep, and the parking lot collects it from us. We can only collect it from the passengers. We are also very helpless."

　　When the reporter mentioned that the last order was ended for no reason, the driver revealed that this was also related to the "2 yuan parking fee". "After the 2 yuan parking fee is added, we need to explain to the passengers repeatedly, and it is easy to cause complaints. The contradiction between drivers and passengers is further exacerbated, and drivers are even more reluctant to accept short-distance orders that do not make money."

　　For example, the driver said, "For example, your order is only about 10 yuan. After the platform draws the commission, the driver can’t make money at all, and he has to pay 2 yuan for parking when he picks you up. But the platform automatically dispatches orders and cannot reject them. Some drivers will choose not to take the online car-hailing channel, but take the social vehicle channel to enter the parking lot, park the car in the social vehicle parking space, and then at the driver’s endpoint’has arrived at the boarding point ‘, wait for 3 minutes before the passenger gets on the bus to end the order, so that the driver circumvents the platform’s penalty rules and realizes no-liability refusal."

　　In the follow-up investigation, the reporter found that in addition to Didi Chuxing, other online car-hailing platforms also had the phenomenon that drivers passed on the 2 yuan fee to passengers to varying degrees.

　　Charging party: It’s not a parking fee, it’s a "service fee".

　　According to the law, parking lots such as airports, stations, docks, transportation hubs, and rail transit transfer stations have the characteristics of natural monopoly operation and public welfare. The parking service charges of such parking lots are included in the scope of government price management, and the charging standards need to be filed with the development and reform department for approval.

　　In addition to the original parking charging standards, the parking lot of Nanchang West Railway Station charges separately for online car-hailing. Has it been reported to the development and reform department for approval?

　　According to public information, the manager of the parking lot of Nanchang West Railway Station is Nanchang West Railway Station Real Estate Co., Ltd., which is a state-owned enterprise and is responsible for the overall operation of state-owned assets of Nanchang West Railway Station. On July 19, a person in charge of the operation and management department of Nanchang West Railway Station Real Estate Co., Ltd. told reporters that the Nanchang Branch of Beijing Taixiang Intelligent Transportation Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch"), a third-party professional management agency, is responsible for the specific operation. "There is a leasing relationship between the two parties. Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch leases some parking spaces from us, which are used as single areas such as online car-hailing and passenger areas, and then they charge the online car-hailing drivers."

　　Subsequently, the reporter went to Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch to learn about the specific situation. Regarding the reason for the charges, the company’s head of management, Zhang, explained that the previous online car-hailing was operating in a disorderly state at Nanchang West Station. Although an online car-hailing area was established in the underground parking lot, online car-hailing, taxis, and social vehicles could all enter, resulting in confusion and congestion in the online car-hailing area. In order to standardize the operation of online car-hailing and improve the order of the passenger area, the company has renovated and upgraded the original online car-hailing passenger area since May this year, and opened an exclusive channel for online car-hailing at the entrance of the parking lot to provide drivers with a special waiting area. Through the delimitation of electronic fences, the company has also set up real-time vehicle location displays, driver lounges, passenger lounges, etc., and dispatched additional staff to maintain on-site order.

　　"These parking spaces in the single area and the passenger area are rented from Nanchang West Railway Station Real Estate Co., Ltd. Our annual fixed expenses such as parking space rent, employee wages, and management costs are about 2 million yuan. We also provide other value-added services to the online car-hailing drivers, so we charge 2 yuan each time for each online car entering the parking lot." Manager Zhang stressed that the company does not charge "parking fees", but "service fees". "We have consulted the Development and Reform Commission of Honggutan District in Nanchang City in advance, and the reply is that the fee does not need to be filed with the development and reform department for approval." Manager Zhang’s statement was confirmed by the relevant person in charge of the Development and Reform Commission of Honggutan District.

　　The person in charge of the price certification center of the Honggutan District Development and Reform Commission in Nanchang City said that in order to standardize the operation of online car-hailing and ease traffic congestion, many departments such as transportation, development and reform, and municipal supervision have held special coordination meetings. "At the coordination meeting, we gave the opinion that they provide more than just parking services. This fee belongs to the’service fee ‘of online car-hailing, and market pricing should be implemented. The charging standard can be independently formulated by the enterprise, and there is no need to file with the development and reform department for approval."

　　Surging News has noticed that Beijing Taixiang Intelligent Transportation Technology Co., Ltd. not only charges "service fees" to online car-hailing in Nanchang. The company also has a branch in Zhengzhou, which is responsible for the project operation of the online car-hailing area of Zhengzhou East Station, and charges 2 yuan "dispatching service fee" to online car-hailing cars entering the parking lot of Zhengzhou East Station. After the charging behavior was reported by local media, the online car-hailing area of Zhengzhou East Station was suspended for rectification and the fee was cancelled. The online car-hailing car entered the parking lot of Zhengzhou East Station and began to enjoy the policy of free parking for 20 minutes.

　　Discussion: Who should bear the cost?

　　On July 20, the reporter reported the situation to the Nanchang Municipal Transportation Bureau.

　　The bureau replied that after verification, the illegal charges of Didi’s online car-hailing from Nanchang West Railway Station were true. According to the agreement on surcharges in Didi Chuxing’s "Service Agreement and Rules", "After the driver receives the station order, he arrives at the positioning boarding point to wait for passengers. The waiting time exceeds the free time of the parking lot, and the parking fee incurred shall be borne by the passenger. The specific collection method shall be subject to the regulations of the platform in the local city. If the driver arrives at the parking lot in advance to wait for the order, the parking fee incurred shall be borne by the driver." After receiving the feedback, the bureau immediately interviewed the relevant enterprises and ordered them to rectify immediately. At the same time, since the supervision and management responsibility of the price is mainly in the market supervision department, the bureau will transfer the relevant clues to the market supervision department for handling according to law and regulations.

　　On the same day, Mr. Liu told the surging news reporter that after calling Didi’s customer service number, the platform immediately refunded the 2 yuan fee to him. The customer service staff said that the parking fee occurred before the passenger got on the bus and should not be borne by the passenger. The platform will punish the driver according to relevant regulations.

　　The "2 yuan parking fee" that made both drivers and passengers dissatisfied has become a "service fee" in the charging square. Which statement is accurate?

　　Gao Peng, a lawyer at Jiangxi Ganhao Law Firm and an associate professor of law at Jiangxi Agricultural University, believes that although Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch claims to charge "service fees", it is essentially a disguised "parking fee". He pointed out that the "Nanchang City Further Improves the Motor Vehicle Parking Service Charge Policy Plan" makes it clear that parking lots such as airports, stations, docks, transportation hubs and rail transit interchange stations have the characteristics of natural monopoly operation and public welfare, and parking service charges in such parking lots are included in the scope of government price management; in addition, Article 18, Item 5 of the "Price Law" stipulates that important public service prices shall be subject to government guidance or government pricing. If you want to add a parking fee specifically charged for online car-hailing in the parking lot of Nanchang West Station, you need to abide by laws and regulations and relevant regulations and procedures of the local government. Even if the so-called "service fee" is charged for other additional services other than parking, it should follow the basic voluntary principle, otherwise it is suspected of forced consumption.

　　Huang Wende, a lawyer and director of Henan Dinghou Law Firm, also believes that although Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch provides other additional services to online car-hailing drivers while providing parking services, the basis for charging is still based on the fact that parking services are provided, and the fee is still essentially a "parking fee". Article 2 of the "Measures for the Supervision and Examination of the Pricing Cost of Motor Vehicle Parking Services in Jiangxi Province (Trial) " stipulates: "The term motor vehicle parking services as mentioned in these measures refers to the business behavior of operators of natural monopoly operations and public welfare parking facilities that are included in the scope of government pricing management. They provide motor vehicle parking services to others through the parking facilities designated by legal procedures and collect motor vehicle parking service fees." Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch replaced "parking fee" with "service fee", but deliberately circumvented the concept of "parking fee".

　　Huang Wende further pointed out that on the surface, the charging party is Beijing Taixiang Nanchang Branch, but in fact the final flow of the fee is Nanchang West Railway Station Real Estate Co., Ltd. As a state-owned enterprise, Nanchang West Railway Station Real Estate Co., Ltd., as a state-owned enterprise, can legally entrust a third party to manage and operate parking spaces, but it cannot use the identity of a third party as a private enterprise to break the government’s pricing, "let alone cover up the fact that parking fees are charged indiscriminately".

　　According to the latest media reports, after the Zhengzhou East Railway Station’s online car-hailing and boarding area was closed for rectification and the 2 yuan dispatch service fee was cancelled, a large number of online car-hailing cars gathered at the gate to wait for passengers, resulting in more congestion in the parking lot. It can be seen that with the increasing development of the online car-hailing market, setting up online car-hailing and boarding areas in transportation hubs such as high-speed railway stations is not only a practical need for drivers and passengers, but also better convenient for the masses to travel. But who should bear the resulting operating costs is worthy of in-depth discussion.

　　In the case of Zhengzhou East Railway Station charging online car-hailing dispatch service fees, economist Song Xiangqing, deputy dean of the Beijing Normal University Government Management Research Institute, suggested in an interview with the media that the fee needs to be reviewed by relevant government departments and priced through corresponding procedures, so that the online car-hailing platform, online car-hailing drivers and passengers are recognized by all parties, and then the online car-hailing driver and the online car-hailing platform should share the burden, and the platform should bear a larger part. In addition, government departments should also give appropriate financial subsidies. Considering that online car-hailing and high-speed rail stations are mutually supportive, symbiotic and win-win relationships, the best solution is for the government to directly subsidize through financial funds.