Singapore’s upcoming licensing for dock-less bike-sharing services has claimed its first scalp after oBike — a Singapore-based company run by Chinese founders — announced that it would cease its service in the country ahead of the implementation of regulations.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is introducing measures to protect Singapore’s streets from a glut of bicycles left all over the place, as photo essays from China and beyond have cautioned can happen.
oBike launched its service at the beginning of 2017, and it claims over one million registered users but still it will end its service today, June 25. oBike said it will continue to run operations in other markets, although it hasn’t said if/when it will refund Singapore-based users with the deposits that they paid upon registration.
“oBike strongly believes and is committed to provide [sic] dock-less bicycle sharing service that would benefit users’ commuting and Singapore’s transportation system, however it is with regret that the new regulation measures do not favour this belief of ours,” the company said in a statement that posted to Facebook.
This move comes weeks after oBike exited Melbourne in Australia following issues with regulation.
oBike has directed its customers to the newly launched bike platform from ride-hailing giant Grab, which went live in March. Other alternatives in Singapore also include services from Chinese duo Ofo and Mobike.
Grab said today it has removed oBike from its list of service providers — its platform aggregates other services into a single place — and added new options.
“As of today, oBikes will no longer be available on our platform. We understand this may impact your GrabCycle experience. Therefore, we will be waiving your active subscription fee, and refunding your deposit,
if any by 26th June. We will also add a complimentary 4-week GrabCycle subscription to your account to try our newest partner, Anywheel,” it wrote in a blog post.
Grab is actually an investor in oBike, as TechCrunch reported last year, after taking part in its $45 million Series B round that was announced in August 2017.
Company ceases operation in Singapore where it was founded, a move that follows withdrawal from Melbourne earlier this month
Bike sharing company oBike has announced it will immediately cease all operations in Singapore, where the company was founded, with customers in Singapore and Australia demanding the return of their deposits.
On Monday, the dockless bikeshare company announced it would fold its Singapore operations, 18 months after it was founded in December 2016.
Customers there and in Australia, where oBike also withdrew from the city of Melbourne only weeks ago, have complained on social media that the company is now refusing to refund their deposits.
The company’s announcement on Facebook on Monday was flooded with hundreds of angry messages from Singaporeans asking for the S$49 deposit back, using the hashtag #refundmydeposit.
Michi🦄 【夏色パーティー】 (@michixmame) I am $49 poorer now... until Obike decides to refund me my $49 :(
It is unclear what the abrupt announcement means for the company’s global operations and the thousands of bikes it owns in 24 different countries around the world.
When Guardian Australia attempted to contact the company on Tuesday, the Australian customer support line was disconnected. Emails requesting comment were not returned.
Australian customers also took to social media to complain that the company had failed to refund deposits, even after weeks of asking.
One customer, Joshua Williams, said he was yet to receive his deposit or even an email response.
“For a service I never actually used it’s quite frustrating to be out of pocket and not receive any answers,” he told Guardian Australia in a message.
“Based on what I am reading on their Facebook page it seems to be a common problem and it looks as if some people have waited many more months than myself and have received nothing from them.
Bicycle hire company oBikes pulls out of Melbourne Read more
In countries such as Australia and Malaysia, oBike is one of the largest bike sharing companies in the market. At launch, the company had 1,250 bikes in Melbourne and 1,000 in Sydney.
The company’s withdrawal from Singapore is a result of new regulations that forced bikeshare companies to be licensed, and to limit fleet sizes, the company said.
“oBike is announcing its decision to cease operation in Singapore as a result of difficulties foreseen to be experienced to fulfil the new requirements and guidelines released by Land Transport Authority towards dockless bicycle sharing in Singapore,” it said.
On June 12, the company pulled out of Melbourne for similar reasons. The City of Melbourne had impounded the bikes, threatened to fine companies $3,000 for bike littering, and told residents not to use them.
Since its launch in Australia, dockless bikesharing has attracted criticism from users and local councils for causing clutter.
High profile incidents, such as when 40 bikes were fished out of Melbourne’s Yarra River, spurred the council to clamp down on the company.
Aloysius Low/CNET
When Obike first arrived in Singapore -- along with other bike-sharing operators -- I tried it and recorded our breakup in this heartwrenching post. Fast-forward a year later, it's leaving Singapore -- and taking my money with it.
Singapore-based Obike announced it's pulling out of Singapore in a Facebook post that caught its users by surprise on Sunday, saying its decision was driven by "difficulties foreseen" as a result of new laws by the city-state's Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Enlarge Image Screengrab by Zoey Chong/CNET
In March, the LTA passed new laws requiring bike-sharing operators to obtain a licence designed to control their fleet sizes. This included new fees and a three-strike policy that temporarily bars repeat offenders from using shared bikes if they park their bike in an unregistered public space.
Bike operators were given until July 7 to apply for a licence, failing which they will have to shut down operations. The new rules were passed in order to fight abuse and regulate the unsightly mess caused by the dockless bike-sharing scheme, which allows users to leave the bikes anywhere after use.
Several users demanded for the company to return their deposits using a hashtag that read #refundmydeposit after Obike's post went live on Facebook.
On Twitter, the ire was strong too:
And I guess say goodbye to your deposit too because I can’t seem to have my deposit refunded from the app. — Xavier Lur (@xavierlur) June 25, 2018
Omg give me back my deposit OBike before you close down business!!!!!! — Reiko-chan (@taemleeder) June 25, 2018
Now, where is the "Refund Deposit" button on my obike app? — JY (@kosherjellyfish) June 25, 2018
requested for my obike deposit refund since march and after many emails chasing them, i still have not receive my deposit..now that they are closed..good bye deposit..... — XX ♡Junnie♡ XX (@ringojunnie) June 25, 2018
Meanwhile, CNET editor Aloysius Low has successfully sent a request for his refund. I, on the other hand, can't even see the "Refund Deposit" button on my app:
Enlarge Image Screengrab by Aloysius Low and Zoey Chong/CNET
Obike isn't the first to hit the brakes -- Gbikes in Singapore announced it will cease operations once LTA's new rules kick in. It might not be the last either, as governments across the world seek to regulate the bike-sharing community in their countries.
Obike was not immediately available for a comment.
Fight the Power: Take a look at who's transforming the way we think about energy.
'Hello, humans': Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet.
Bicycle sharing company oBike is ceasing operations in Singapore from June 25, citing difficulties in complying with regulations, the company announced on a Facebook post on Monday.
BICYCLE sharing company oBike has become the second dock-less bicycle business to shutter its Singapore operations rather than apply for a licence from the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Singapore-based oBike told The Business Times on Monday that it is pulling out of the Singapore market due to new regulations imposed by the authorities, which will make the bicycle-sharing business model not a "viable" one for oBike and will cause the company "further losses".
In a statement, oBike said: "It is with deep sadness that we have to pull out of the Singapore market. We truly believe that bikesharing as a first and last mile transportation, has an important role to play in a car-lite society. However, due to the new regulations imposed by the authorities, this will not be a viable business model for oBike and we foresee that it will only cause the company to sustain further losses."
The company first announced in a Facebook post on Monday that it will cease operations in its home base from June 25.
sentifi.com Market voices on:
"oBike is announcing its decision to cease operation in Singapore as a result of difficulties forseen to be experienced to fulfil the new requirements and guidelines released by Land Transport Authority towards dock-less bicycle sharing in Singapore," the company said. "oBike strongly believes and is committed to provide dock-less bicycle sharing service that would benefit users' commuting and Singapore's transportation system, however it is with regret that the new regulation measures do not favour this belief of ours."
The move comes after GBikes, which was supported by financial technologies firm FinTechSG, told users earlier this month that it would stop its service in July.
Singapore's bicycle-sharing companies, which include China-based companies Mobike and ofo and homegrown company SG Bike, will be required to be licensed by the LTA from July 7. As part of the licensing regime, operators will face restrictions on fleet size, among other obligations mostly related to indiscriminate parking.
oBike, which said that it has more than one million users in Singapore, launched in January 2017. The company said on Monday that users will still be able to use its services through GrabCycle, which is a partner of oBike. Grab has refuted that position, however, saying in a statement that oBike's bicycles will no longer be available on Grab's platform.
"We will no longer be able to offer their bikes on our GrabCycle marketplace app," Grab said. "We are strong believers in the bicycle and personal mobility device-sharing opportunity, and its impact on the liveability of our future cities. We will continue to serve and grow GrabCycle, as we work towards our vision as the everyday app with multiple transport options and daily essential services for consumers."
BT understands that oBike and GBikes are no longer partners on Grab's GrabCycle platform. GrabCycle's two other partners are Anywheel and PopScoot.
When asked if GrabCycle remains relevant with the departure of two of its four partners, a Grab spokesman said: "Yes, it's a marketplace so we work with different partners and will bring more onto our platform."
Singapore is not the only market to try to control dock-less bicycle sharing businesses. Earlier in June, oBike said that it was exiting the Melbourne market due to rules against abandoned bicycles.
