Yesterday, yet another company just upped and disappeared almost overnight. Nope, it’s not a tour agency.
Nor is it a bridal studio.
It’s a bike-sharing company.
This bike-sharing company, to be exact.
And when I said they disappeared overnight, they really did.
If you looked through oBike’s Facebook page, just 4 days before their announcement on 21 June, oBike even had a giveaway for Straits Times Run.
They even commented on the post on 25 June, saying they were in the process of informing the winners of the giveaway.
Then this happened.
oBike announced that they’re ceasing operations in Singapore due to difficulties in complying with the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) new regulatory framework.
With the new bike-sharing license, the bike-sharing company has to pay LTA $60 ($30 for security deposit and $30 licensing fee) for every bicycle deployed on the street, besides the $1,500 one-time application fee.
They referred oBike users to GrabCycle, claiming that users can still continue using oBike services through them.
GrabCycle, however, said there’s no such thing
In a shocking statement that rendered my handsome colleague and MVP Goody Feed writer, Leon Chan, speechless, GrabCycle said:
Sorry hor, no such thing lor. oBike stop operating liao not my problem, can?
Okay lah, not in those exact words, but the gist remains the same. oBike services will not be valid on the GrabCycle app from Monday (25 June) as well.
And that’s not all.
GrabCycle to waive all current subscriptions and refund all deposits by 26 Jun 2018
Wait, what? Last I know, GrabCycle operates like GrabTaxi, where they have different companies on the platform providing Grab’s services.
So why is it that with oBike’s departure, the entire platform came to a standstill?
That’s because GrabCycle is now experiencing a lack of bicycles on its platform.
GrabCycle was partnered up with four different companies, oBikes, Anywheel, Gbikes and Popscoot.
Out of the four, oBike has the highest number of bicycles (around 14,000 bicycles in Singapore). Unfortunately, they’ve stopped operations in Singapore.
And GBikes is bowing out of the bike-sharing market in Singapore as well.
So Grab is left with Anywheel, a new entrant into the bike-sharing market.
And Popscoot is only listed as coming soon.
So Grab decided to waive all current subscriptions and refund deposits.
As well as stop accepting new sign-ups for their GrabCycle subscription service to preserve the experience for current users.
Read: With increased demand and lesser supply, GrabCycle users are going to be hopping mad cuz it’s less likely they’ll be able to get a bicycle.
On top of that, they’re offering a four-week free trial for users to try out Anywheel bicycles, the latest bike-sharing company to join GrabCycle.
In the meanwhile, they’ll be looking to partner up with more bike-sharing companies and beef up the supply of bike-sharing bicycles on the platform.
You’ve got to admit, that’s ethics, man.
On the other hand, oBike users are advised to go to CASE
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have oBike, the company that proclaimed itself to be the first smart bike-sharing company in Singapore.
oBike users are facing difficulties in getting their refunds back and they were advised to approach the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) for help.
They made generous use of the hashtag #ReturnMyDeposit on oBike’s Facebook page.
Users who charged the deposit to their credit cards within the past 120 days are advised to get their banks to get back the payment.
Several oBike users claimed that even before oBike shut down, they’ve already had difficulties getting back their refunds.
How this situation will work out, nobody knows. LTA is currently asking oBike to discuss with them their exit plans, citing the need to remove the oBikes on the streets of Singapore.
Meanwhile, Anywheel, ofo, Mobike and SG Wheel confirmed that they are applying for the new bike-sharing license.
Now you know what Singaporeans are talking about today; do check back tomorrow for another piece of news of the day!
If you watch at least 10 minutes of brain rot content daily, you must know this:
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