Hellobike collecting e-bikes after authority warning

Hellobike said on Wednesday it had started collecting the shared e-bikes they had put on streets in Songjiang and Minhang districts.

The announcement came after the company was under fire for flouting regulations which prohibit shared bike firms from putting e-bikes on the streets.

The Shanghai Road Transport Administrative Bureau ordered Hellobike to remove all e-bikes from the street or face a ban in the Shanghai market.

A representative from Hellobike told Shanghai Daily it would be removing the e-bikes as soon as possible. People who had purchased a monthly pass on the Hellobike app would be offered a full refund, the representative said.

“As a local startup benefiting from the preferential policies of the city, we are obliged to cooperate with the local government,” the company said.

Minhang Transport Commission told Shanghai Daily that based on the previous reluctance of the company to retrieve the illegal e-bikes, they would be keeping a close eye on the situation to make sure all e-bikes are gone.