Dec 21, 2018 (China Knowledge) - Ofo CEO Dai Wei has been put on the Chinese government’s blacklist for failure to fulfil his payment obligations. The inclusion in the blacklist will restrict him from purchasing high-end goods and services, including certain types of railway and airline travel tickets.

Besides the company CEO, Ofo, as a company, has also been placed on the blacklist by the government. The ruling was announced on 4th December, but the news was only picked up by the Chinese media yesterday.

Ofo has been on a downward spiral in recent months, starting with bankruptcy rumours to failure to return deposits to users. The total amount demanded by users is estimated to be in the range of RMB 1 billion to RMB 2 billion. Users have also been sighted to have crowded outside the office of the company in Beijing, requesting for their deposits to be returned.

Haidian District People’s Court in Beijing has issued a statement, giving the details of the scope of the ban on Dai. He will be required to get approval from the court before participating in any of the ‘excessive spending’ activities listed in the notice. This includes things such as sending his children to private schools or even purchase of certain types of insurance or wealth management products.

The CEO is also no allowed to travel or go on vacation; neither is he allowed to travel in business class by air or rail domestically. He is also banned from purchasing property or undertaking expensive renovations to existing properties.

According to TechNode, more than 11 million people are currently on the refund waiting list, as of yesterday. Rider’s deposit amount to either RMB 99 or RMB 199 per customer. The company is estimated to owe RMB 1 billion (USD 145 million) in excess to its riders.

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