(Yicai Global) Sept. 25-- Two murder-rapes of womenriders within three monthsat the hands of drivers operating under the medallion of Chineseride-hailing mammoth Didi Chuxinghavestirred up a hornet's nestof public outrage throughout the country, and put Did under the official lens.Didi, it turns out, has been driving without a license.

Online car-hailing providers must receive approval from city transit agencies, per national regulations.Didi has thus far only obtained these grants from 40-pluscities, among themBeijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen,but notfrom Shanghai and a further 300. Didi isthusa rogueactor in these places.Beijing,Shanghai and other cities with strict administration of ride-hailing haveimposed a rule thatride-sharedrivers mustbelocals, as must their cars.

Didihasnonethelessillegally taken onunlicensed personnel and carsand complaints have been common since the national standardsissued two years ago.The main reason for Didi'sfailure toobtainlicensingwas that somecars and driversdid not qualify under the rules, Ma Fei, deputy director of Shanghai's transport bureau,said in April, adding hisoffice discussed this with Didi several times.Didi has also shrugged off penalties levied against it forusing illegalcarsand drivers. Ithas been fined more than CNY100,000(USD14,580) eighttimes since 2015, anditspersonnel have cooperatedand timely paid the fines, but thendone nothing to fix the problem, Ma said.The burgeoning ranks ofdrivers andcars illegallyoperatingrenderadministration problematic, however.Fewerthan 10,000of the410,000Didi drivers in Shanghai complywith the local household registration requirement, which means Didi has been effectively thumbing its nose at officialdom there since day one.