Six departments, including the Ministry of Transport ("MOT"), have recently enacted and released the Administrative Measures for User Funds Charged under Emerging Transport Business Models (for Trial Implementation) (the "Measures") which will go into effect from June 1, 2019 and remain effective for three years.
The Measures provide that a business operator shall not charge deposit from users in principle, and if it is truly necessary to do so, it shall provide users with two options in respect to how their deposits will be placed under custody, either in the business operator's special deposit account or in users' own personal bank settlement accounts, adding that in delivering services, business operators are encouraged to directly charge service fees after the provision of their services. In addition, the Measures note that the amount of a sum of deposit shall not exceed 2% of the average cost price of each vehicle put into operation by a business operator, if charged for the timeshare car rental service, and is capped at 10% of the average cost price of each bicycle put into the market by a business operator, if charged for the online cycling rental service. Furthermore, the Measures highlight that each business operator must openly make a credit commitment on such platforms as the "CreditChina" website that "it will not misappropriate users' deposits and will manage user funds in compliance with applicable laws and regulations".