Uber rival Didi limiting rides based on gender after a grisly murder, report says – CNET


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Uber rival Didi limiting rides based on gender after a grisly murder, report says

Drivers for the Chinese firm will only be allowed to pick up riders of the same sex early in the morning and late in the evening, Reuters reports.

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Didi Chuxing is working to regain trust after a female passenger was killed last month. 

Greg Baker / Getty Images

Chinese ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing said on Wednesday that drivers for its car-pooling service will only be allowed to pick up passengers of the same gender during certain hours of the day, Reuters reported. The move comes as the company works to rebuild its image after a female passenger was murdered last month. 

The 21-year-old passenger was allegedly killed by a driver who may have improperly accessed his father’s account. Didi then redesigned the platform, limiting service hours to between 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. When the new policy on same-sex rides goes into effect on June 15, Didi will expand service hours to be from 5 a.m. to midnight, according to Reuters. 

Between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 10 p.m. and 12 p.m., car-pooling service drivers will reportedly only be allowed to pick up passengers of the same sex. 

Didi also said it plans on testing an “escort mode” on its app beginning June 22, according to Reuters. The feature will reportedly let passengers share their routes with emergency contacts. 

Didi Chuxing is the most popular ride-hailing app in China, and took over Uber’s Chinese operations last year. Last month, the company received a permit to test fully-driverless cars on public roads in California. In April, it also entered the market in Mexico.  

Didi Chuxing didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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