租车公司代价服务是否违法?

中国许多汽车租赁公司,不仅提供自驾租车业务,也同时经营着代驾租车业务.但目前相关法规规定,汽车租赁经营者不得以提供驾驶服务等方式从事或变相从事道路运输经营活动.那么这些租赁公司到底是否违法了呢?

Reporter:

According to current regulation, car rental companies can only offer vehicles. They can't offer the services of driver as well.

EHai Car Rental Company is one of the big car rental companies in China being questioned by the public due to their designated driving service.

Although company says it has the permission to conduct the business, Hao Qingfeng, councilor from the Consumer Protection Research Center of China Law Society, says it needs further clarification.

"It's still a question of whether this company has obtained a clear certificate to provide designated driver service. So far, there is no clear regulation in China to prove the car rental business can offer designated driving service."

The expert says there is a big difference between car renting and driving services. Self-driving a rental car belongs to the property rental area in law, but renting a car and a driving service from the same company places it in the passenger transport business category, which is fundamentally similar to a taxi business.

Hao Qingfeng further explains that's why many lawmakers in China believe conduct like eHai Company has violated the law.

"Car rental business only allows companies to rent cars to customers. For example, if you rent a car in the countries like the United States, you'd see such companies never offer drivers to you."

Specific regulations publicized in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have strictly stipulated that car rental companies are forbidden to offer driving services to customers. An anonymous designated driver from a car rental company says his company depends mostly on the profits made from such conduct.

"Our company receives service orders as many as 500 per day. Saturday and Sunday we can make much more. We've got about 170 cars, and every driver usually receives three to four missions each day. Designated driving services account for 65 percent of our total profits."

Many people find such service convenient by placing an order online without signing any contracts. However, Hao Qingfeng from China Law Society, says consumer's right can hardly be protected if an accident happens.

"Once anything happens, it'd all depend on the attitude of the car rental company. If the company tries to shrug off responsibility, then consumers would become helpless since the law requires evidence."

According to estimates from the China Car Rental Association, the car rental business in China will continue to boom by 25 percent each year during the upcoming five years. By 2014, there will be more than 400,000 cars as rental properties, and trading volunme will reach 38 billion yuan per year to the industry.

For China Drive, I'm Liu Min