Uber China hits roadblock after being blocked from WeChat
Ride sharing app Uber is claiming an anti-competitive campaign is trying to force it out of the China market by its biggest competitor.
China’s big two taxi apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache merged earlier this year and are backed by mega investor Tencent.
Tencent is also owner of WeChat, China’s biggest messaging app which has more than 600 million active users.
Uber claims all of its accounts on WeChat have been gradually frozen by Tencent since earlier this year, after tensions rose following the Didi Dache-Kuaidi Dache merger.
Uber said reasons used for freezing out its accounts ranged from technical glitches to WeChat account violations.
"From then on is when you start to see deterioration in the competitive environment, and it hit a crescendo where our accounts actually got shut off in March," said Emil Michael, senior vice president for business at Uber.
Michael is hopeful relations can be restored in time.
"I think as we continue to succeed, and it’s clear we’re in this for the long haul—we’ve got Chinese investors behind us, we’ll get into more of a détente mode," Michael said.
Uber itself is no stranger to accusations of dirty tricks.
Rival Lyft complained that Uber employees sent thousands of fake ride requests in New York last year and tried to persuade potential investors not to fund Lyft.
Lyft even threatened legal action last year after a former executive defected to Uber, allegedly taking confidential company documents with him.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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