Some drivers claim that their income is decreasing instead of increasing, and ride hailing platforms are lowering their commission rates
Recently, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Transport introduced that as of the end of July, major ride hailing platforms have announced a reduction in their commission rates, with a general reduction range of 1% to 3%. In April of this year, the Ministry of Transport released the "2023 Work Plan for Promoting New Forms of Transportation Platform Enterprises to Reduce Excessive Commission Rates", urging major ride hailing platform companies to reduce the upper limit of excessive commission rates on their platforms. Regarding this, some interviewed ride hailing drivers expressed that the downward adjustment is a good thing, but their feelings are unclear; Some drivers have also reported that the platform's continuous promotion of promotional activities has led to a decline in revenue instead of an increase.
"The commission ratio for each order is different, a two or three point decrease is not noticeable at all." Anhui Hefei ride hailing driver Mr. Chen, who has been working for more than two years, showed reporters his order fee details on September 3. The commission ratios for orders with passenger payment amounts of 8.25 yuan, 32.92 yuan, and 85.45 yuan were 21.2%, 25.6%, and 29%, respectively. The reporter consulted the customer service of the ride hailing platform as a driver, and the other party stated that due to factors such as order distance, time, and carpooling, different proportions of service fees will be charged for each order. "The proportion of the draw is still very high," said Master Chen.
There are many who share the same feeling as Master Chen. A interviewed driver stated that although the proportion of profits has decreased, the actual income received has decreased instead of increasing. A Tianjin ride hailing driver calculated in a video posted on social media: for an order with a shipping fee of 100.46 yuan, the platform showed a commission rate of 11.3%. According to theory, the driver should have earned 89.11 yuan, but due to the platform's discount of 24.77 yuan, the passenger actually paid 75.69 yuan, and the actual compensation the driver received was only 67.14 yuan. "I don't understand why drivers have to pay for the discounts offered by the platform," said the driver.
"A passenger pays more than 80 yuan for a trip, and I only received more than 50 yuan, which deducts more than 30% of the money." Beijing ride hailing driver Zhao Shifu said that his ride hailing platform is affiliated with the aggregation platform, and on the basis of the ride hailing platform's commission, the aggregation platform also charges a service fee, and his income has decreased instead of increasing.
Regarding this, Master Chen also reflected that there have been more discount orders recently, and some platforms have even forced orders to be dispatched. "Some special offers only earn drivers 1.2 yuan per kilometer, making little money. However, if you don't accept the special offer, the platform won't send you other offers."
In this regard, Professor Xiao Zhu from the Law School of China University of Labor Relations believes that the proportional adjustment involves a balance of interests among platforms, ride hailing drivers, and consumers, and an open, transparent, and reasonable decision-making mechanism should be established.
Xiao Zhu suggested that the industry regulatory department take the lead in establishing a reasonable mechanism for the formation of platform worker income, including order allocation, commission ratio, labor quota, working hours, reward and punishment system, etc. At the same time, relevant trade union organizations, industry associations, and enterprise representative organizations actively engage in equal consultations, and continuously explore democratic management forms suitable for the characteristics of new forms of employment, such as industry employee representative conferences and labor management symposiums, to establish institutionalized and normalized mechanisms for the realization of labor rights and interests such as income growth for new forms of labor.
