China lifts restriction on new user registration on ride-hailing behemoth Didi

After 25 apps and a year and a half of being blocked, Didi is now able to accept new user registrations in China.

Didi Global, a ride-hailing company in China, announced that domestic regulators would permit the company to resume new user registration as of Monday, signifying the conclusion of its 1.5-year regulatory-driven redesign.

Since its regulatory issues began in the middle of 2021, Didi has been waiting for authorisation to begin new user registrations and downloads of its 25 blocked applications in China as a crucial step to getting back to normal business.

According to sources cited by Reuters on Friday, Chinese officials were prepared to permit Didi to resume new user registrations and app downloads in China as early as this week.

The company stated in a statement on Monday that it had “carefully cooperated with the country’s cybersecurity evaluation, seriously dealt with the security problems revealed in the review, and carried out extensive rectifications for more than one year.”

Didi said in the statement that it would also take concrete steps to ensure platform security, and data security, and to protect national cyberspace security.

The most recent action comes as Chinese policymakers work to rebuild private sector trust and rely on the technology sector to help revive the economy after the Covid19 outbreak decimated it.

Though it wasn’t mentioned in the statement, Didi will need its ride-hailing and other apps to be back in domestic app stores in order to attract new customers.

According to sources, Didi, which was founded in Beijing in 2012 and is backed by well-known investors such as Alibaba, Tencent, and SoftBank Group, clashed with the influential cyber watchdog Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) in 2021 when it pushed forward with its U.S. stock listing against the regulator’s wishes.

Then, Didi’s regulatory problems began, with orders to remove 25 of its mobile apps from app stores, a ban on new user registration, and a $1.2 billion fine for data security violations.

A poster child of China’s internet development, it was forced to abandon its 11-month tenure as a firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June of last year, becoming one of the biggest victims of Beijing’s regulatory crackdown.

To read More News Updates, Visit our Site, InsightFello.