Mobike to waive deposit in 100 cities, but not Shanghai

Shared bike firm Mobike declared they will waive the 299 yuan (USD$46) deposit required to sign up and use the service in 100 cities around the country, but Shanghai is not included.

The company said that users in Shanghai will soon be able to refund their deposits, but the exact time has not been revealed.

New users in the 100 cities can simply download the app and register before they ride a bike and no deposit will be charged. For those who have already paid the deposit, they can log on to the app or apply for a refund via the official WeChat and Weibo accounts of Mobike.

The deposit will be returned to the account which users used to pay within two to seven workdays.

Statistics from China Internet Information Center suggested that by the end of 2017, the value of shared bike deposits has reached between 2 and 6 billion yuan, which has been a point of some controversy. Many shared bike firms went bankrupt with no capacity to return the deposits paid.

According to public information, more than 10 shared bike firms have waived deposits so far.