Abstract:
"The expressway is free on National Day, but the driver charges?" Recently, passengers reported that after the Hello Hitch driver collected the expressway toll on the evening of September 30, he deliberately delayed getting off the expressway until October 1, when the expressway was free, and refused to refund the illegally collected expressway toll, which caused concern. Hello Travel responded to the "BUG" column and stated that it had verified that the car owner illegally charged highway tolls and had restricted him from accepting orders and refunded passenger fees.
However, this type of problem is not an isolated case. Many passengers also revealed that the Hello Ride driver still demanded tolls/thank you fees during the National Day holiday when highways were free. Experts pointed out that Hello, as a platform, is responsible for rule enforcement and regulatory failure for such behavior. The platform's own rules clearly prohibit charging highway tolls without actual fees, but many complaints still appeared during the National Day, indicating that there are shortcomings in the binding force of the rules on the driver's side and real-time monitoring during the trip.
"If there is no expressway fee, a thank you fee will be added"
Recently, a Hunan netizen posted on social media that she and her friends took a Hello Hitch on the evening of September 30. As soon as they got on the bus, the driver took out the payment code and demanded 60 yuan for the expressway fee.
But then, the driver started a series of violent actions. First, without the knowledge of the two of them, they picked up another passenger and deliberately took a long way around; midway, they also said that the tram needed to be charged, so they spent half an hour in the service area; later, it became slower and slower, deliberately delaying time.
"It was almost 12 o'clock. Since highway tolls are free during the National Day, we wanted the driver to return 60 yuan to us. The driver refused and said that the national highways are free. The highway tolls are waived for the driver, not for the passengers." This was unacceptable to her. She didn't get home until around 1 a.m. on October 1. After arriving home, she launched a complaint on the Hello platform. At first, the platform said that the driver had not violated the regulations and could apply for manual customer service intervention. However, after she applied for manual customer service intervention, the customer service did not contact her within 24 hours as scheduled. Instead, she directly informed her that the review was over, saying that the driver had not violated the rules.
The netizen told the "BUG" column that his request is to have the driver refund the highway toll that should not be charged. In response to this matter, Hello Travel responded to the "BUG" column and stated that it has verified that the car owner illegally charged highway tolls, has restricted him from accepting orders, and has refunded passenger fees.
However, this type of problem is not an isolated case. On social media, many netizens reported that during the National Day, Hello Hitch drivers asked to pay highway tolls or thank you fees. A Guangdong netizen posted screenshots of communication with drivers, which showed that some drivers asked for an additional 80 yuan before leaving, and some drivers said, "Now that it is a holiday, they have to charge an additional 70 yuan as a thank you fee." "Aren't there no highway tolls on National Day? These drivers are just trying to steal money. If there are no highway tolls, they will add a thank you fee."
Some netizens complained that when traveling during the National Day holiday, they contacted several ride-hailing owners, and they all requested to add highway fees/thank you fees, ranging from 30/50/100 yuan. “I would rather take a bus than let you earn this money!”
Expert: The platform has regulatory responsibilities and must increase the cost of driver violations
Regarding this kind of incident, some netizens also spoke out from the perspective of the driver. Some netizens said that this is a free ride, not an express train, and they understand each other. Some netizens said that the National Day free expressway is free for cars, not for passengers.
However, the Hello Hitch platform has clear rules for charging expressway fees/thank you fees during the National Day.
Hello Travel’s official customer service stated that during the National Day holiday (October 1st to 7th), passenger cars with 7 seats or less enjoy the free highway policy. If the expressway is free during the trip and no expressway toll is actually incurred, the passenger does not need to pay the expressway toll. If the car owner still requires passengers to pay highway tolls during the free period, it is a violation. Users can give feedback through the customer service lobby, and the platform will handle it after verification; the thank you fee is voluntarily given by passengers and is not required. Car owners cannot force it to ask for it.
Customer service also stated that if a car owner charges high-speed tolls in violation of regulations, the platform will refund the overcharged fee after verification and impose penalties on the car owner, including deducting growth value/trust points, banning for 3-7 days, and in severe cases, permanent ban; repeated violations will involve further processing such as deposits.
Gao Chengyuan, director of the Tiaoyuan Impact Research Institute, told the "BUG" column that if passengers are illegally charged high-speed tolls during the free period, passengers should first submit a complaint in the Hello App and upload order screenshots, payment vouchers and chat records. If the platform fails to handle the matter properly, you can call the 12328 transportation service supervision hotline or the 12315 consumer complaint hotline to further safeguard your rights.
He believes that as a platform party, Hello is responsible for rule enforcement and regulatory failure for such behavior. The platform's own rules clearly prohibit charging highway tolls without actual fees, but many complaints still appeared during the National Day, indicating that there are shortcomings in the binding force of the rules on the driver's side and real-time monitoring during the trip.
Gao Chengyuan suggested that the measures the platform should take include: strengthening real-time verification of high-speed toll collection within the itinerary, and establishing an automatic early warning and interception mechanism for orders that are "charged without tolls"; implementing stepped penalties for drivers who are found to be in violation, ranging from suspension of operating qualifications to permanent bans to increase the cost of violations; proactively refunding fees to affected passengers and publicizing the results, rather than relying on passengers to complain one by one. In addition, for the hidden behavior of "disguised charging in the name of thank you fees", platforms must clearly include it in the rules to include it in the identification of illegal charges.
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