Shanghai Draft Taxi Law Would Back Robotaxis and Ban Ride-Hailing Price Discrimination

Photo: Jengtingchen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (file photo, 2020). A Roewe Ei5 taxi in Shanghai.

Shanghai has opened a public consultation on a draft law that would rewrite the city’s taxi rules for the first time in about three decades, folding street-hail cabs and app-based ride-hailing into one regulated industry and giving self-driving taxis a place in local law. The draft Shanghai taxi regulations are open for comment until Nov. 3, according to a consultation notice published Oct. 28 by the Minhang district government’s “Today Minhang” channel.

Comments gathered through the consultation will be passed to the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, the city’s legislature, for further study, revision and review, the notice said. It asked residents for views on integrating the taxi industry, regulating operations and services, and protecting the rights of passengers and drivers.

Autonomous driving written into the draft

The draft says the city will “lawfully and orderly” promote the safe use of autonomous driving technology in the taxi industry, with transport and public security authorities providing guidance and services, according to Shanghai Daily ✓Claim by Shanghai Daily (state-owned Shanghai media); confirmed by MLex. MLex, a legal and regulatory news service, summarized the official statement in the same terms, saying the city proposes to promote the safe deployment of autonomous driving in taxi services.

The draft also calls for using big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence to make taxi services and their oversight more digital, and supports a low-carbon shift through new-energy vehicles and new equipment, both outlets reported. The language sets a policy direction rather than issuing permits: neither report describes the draft as authorizing a citywide commercial robotaxi service, and no effective date has been announced.

Rules for ride-hailing platforms

For passengers, the most direct change concerns pricing. Ride-hailing platforms would be barred from using data, algorithms or platform rules to charge different prices for the same service under equivalent conditions, MLex reported. The practice, sometimes called algorithmic price discrimination, has been a recurring complaint about app-based services in China.

Platforms would also be barred from imposing unreasonable restrictions, conditions or fees on drivers, according to MLex. Shanghai Daily reported that platforms would have to disclose their commission rates and operating rules and could not take unreasonable commissions. Taxi operators, ride-hailing platforms and aggregator apps would have to protect data security and store and use personal information and business data in line with national rules, MLex said.

One industry, two fare systems

The new law would replace a taxi regulation adopted in 1995, long before smartphone ride-hailing existed, Shanghai Daily reported. Under the draft, street-hail cabs and ride-hailing cars would be managed as a single industry, with the city controlling the total number of vehicles and allocating operating rights based on service quality and reputation, the paper said, citing local media reports. That detail has not been independently confirmed by outlets outside China.

Fares for street-hail taxis would stay under government guidance, while ride-hailing fares would mainly be set by the market, with price ranges or government intervention possible when needed, according to Shanghai Daily. The draft also covers driver qualification exams and licensing, complaint handling and industry self-regulation, and sets penalties for violations such as refusing passengers or abandoning them mid-trip.

Key provisions at a glance

How the comment period works

Residents can submit comments through the Today Minhang app’s legislative consultation channel, naming the article of the draft they are commenting on, according to the district notice. One outside summary gave a different window: MLex said the draft was open for comment from Oct. 24 to Nov. 7. The Boston Report is using the Nov. 3 deadline stated in the government notice. After the consultation, the draft returns to the city legislature for further revision before any vote.

The draft is part of a wider push in China’s large cities to set rules for autonomous vehicles and app-based transport. For more on transport technology and data issues in the region this week, see TBR’s report on the Amadeus breach affecting Asian airline passengers and its coverage of China’s reusable experimental spacecraft.

Sources

• Today Minhang (Minhang district government channel, via The Paper): consultation notice on the draft Shanghai Taxi Regulations, Oct. 28, 2026 (Chinese)
• MLex: Shanghai proposes autonomous-taxi rollout under draft rules
• Shanghai Daily (state-owned): Shanghai draft taxi law opens the door to self-driving cabs

Additional sources

• The Boston Report editorial policy: source labels