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OVER 200 drivers gathered outside the office of the Kuaidi taxi app company yesterday to protest against high vehicle rental fees, low wages and lack of social insurance.

The private car service drivers, “zhuanche,” who get most of their business through taxi booking app Kuaidi, drove their cars to Shaanxi Road N. at about 10am and blocked traffic, sitting on the pavements or in their cars.

They displayed banners or painted their car windows with slogans that read “Kuaidi Taxi go bankrupt” or “We have to survive.”

The drivers told Shanghai Daily they decided to protest after being told to sign a new contract before May 4. Under the new terms, the car rental fees were hiked from 150 yuan (US$24) to 750 yuan a day, while their basic wage and social entitlements were canceled. There are some 300 zhuanche drivers working for Kuaidi.

“We were getting social benefits and a basic wage of 1,500 yuan, which is even less than the minimum wage in Shanghai. Even that is being denied,” a driver surnamed Chen said.

“The company is raising the rental fare to 750 yuan a day. That means we have to work at least 12 hours a day to pay the rental. How do they expect us to survive?” asked another driver, who declined to give his name.

Most of the drivers don’t own a vehicle and rent cars for 150 yuan a day.

Chen was a taxi driver before becoming a zhuanche driver 7 months ago.

“The income for Zhuanche drivers was very attractive at first. Now it is worse than a taxi driver. Taxi drivers also have to pay high rental fees, but at least they can afford to rest every other day. Zhuanche drivers are required to work six days a week.”

In its defense, Kuaidi claimed the drivers are contracted to car rental and labor dispatching companies. It claims it only serves as a platform and cooperates with the companies and has no knowledge on what the drivers make.

A Kuaidi communications official surnamed Wang told Shanghai Daily the company was coordinating with the companies to resolve the issue. Kuaidi claimed that drivers had signed contracts with several companies.

The Putuo District Human Resources and Social Security Bureau mediated over the issue and sent representatives to Kuaidi’s office. Zhu Yuan, an official with the bureau, told the paper that the problem was over remuneration. The bureau said it had asked the labor dispatching companies to send them a copy of the new contract to ensure it complies with the law. It will also investigate if the companies conducted themselves appropriately, like voting over the changes.

Shanghai raised the minimum monthly wage for full-time employees in the city from 1,820 yuan to 2,020 yuan from April 1.

The country’s two leading taxi hailing apps Kuaidi and Didi merged in February after competing fiercely for market share. Hangzhou-based Kuaidi and Beijing-based Didi retained their own brands after the merger. Zhuanche drivers can register with both the apps.

Booking rides through third-party mobile apps like Uber, Didi and Kuaidi has become popular since last year even though their are operative issues. Over 100 zhuanche drivers were fined 10,000 yuan and had their driving license suspended this year for operating illegally.