The Chinese authorities have fined the taxi service Didi Global more than 8 billion yuan. The fine follows a year-long investigation into the company’s data use.
Uber’s competitor is said to have illegally collected personal data from users and violated competition rules.
Didi’s approach by China is part of a broader campaign by Beijing to curb the country’s powerful technology sector. For example, the online store Alibaba was previously fined for abuse of power. The authorities also imposed fines of 1 million yuan each on Didi’s chairman Cheng Wei and President Jean Liu.
Didi came under fire from the Chinese authorities after the company decided to go public in June 2021 against Beijing’s wishes. Under pressure from the Chinese government, Didi has already agreed to delist in New York and is working on an IPO in Hong Kong.
