Advertisement
U.S. markets closed
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • Dow 30

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Nasdaq

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • Russell 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • Crude Oil

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Gold

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • Silver

    25.10
    +0.18 (+0.74%)
     
  • EUR/USD

    1.0793
    0.0000 (-0.00%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • GBP/USD

    1.2638
    +0.0016 (+0.13%)
     
  • USD/JPY

    151.2380
    -0.1340 (-0.09%)
     
  • Bitcoin USD

    70,027.70
    -1,176.38 (-1.65%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE 100

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Nikkei 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     

Uber faces Chinese challenge as Didi hits UK roads

Didi
Didi

Didi, the Chinese taxi-hailing app, is to launch in Britain within weeks as it takes on US rival Uber in a battle for supremacy played out across the country's roads.

The Beijing-headquartered business has secured its first licences in Salford and Sheffield and is stepping up preparations to start carrying customers, The Telegraph can reveal.

It comes as Didi faces a crackdown in China that has led to its forced removal from the Communist nation's app stores, prevented it from signing up new users and triggered a cybersecurity review.

Didi completed a $68bn (£49bn) US listing last week but Beijing’s intervention has caused its shares to sink this week.

The company’s arrival in the UK creates a new challenger for Uber, alongside the likes of Estonian and Indian rivals Bolt and Ola.

Didi has been rapidly hiring across Britain, appointing staff in London office and opening a base in Manchester. Its entry into Britain's increasingly competitive taxi app market comes as operators face growing pressure over drivers’ working conditions.

Uber, which has about 70,000 drivers in the UK, agreed to start guaranteeing a minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions after the Supreme Court declared that drivers were legally workers, rather than self-employed contractors.

Didi, China’s biggest taxi-hailing app, drove Uber out of the country in 2016, when the US firm sold its operations to the company after a bruising price war. Uber has a 12.8pc stake in Didi and both are backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund.

Didi operates in 15 countries, mostly in Asia and central America. It launched in Russia last year and is also planning to start services in European countries such as France and Germany as part of a global expansion drive.

The business's first operations in the UK are likely to be followed by licence applications in cities such as London in the coming months. The company has been granted a one-year licence in Salford and a five-year permit in Sheffield, according to recent filings.

NYSE
NYSE

Didi is believed to have outlined plans to begin its services in around three weeks. However, it is unclear if pressure on the company from Chinese regulators will delay the launch.

Shares in Didi closed down 20pc on Tuesday and fell by a further 5pc on Wednesday.

Beijing is considering tightening restrictions on overseas listings, pointing to fears of sensitive data being exposed. On Sunday, it ordered Didi to remove its app from download stores, claiming the company had violated privacy laws.

Didi did not respond to a request for comment.

Separately, China handed fines to 22 of the country’s technology businesses on Wednesday as a crackdown on the sector continues.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation said 22 companies including Alibaba and Tencent were penalised over mergers and acquisitions that the regulator said broke competition rules.

Each company was fined 500,000 yuan (£56,000) over what the regulator claimed was a failure to report deals for approval. Subsidiaries of Didi were involved in eight of the deals it highlighted.

Advertisement