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Bike-sharing firms in Singapore shaken but unhurt from oBike fallout

SINGAPORE — While they have yet to experience any backlash from commuters, some bike-sharing firms said that they have received calls and email messages from the public since news broke about oBike's abrupt exit on Monday (June 25).

Other bike-sharing companies also said they are worried that oBike’s sudden exit and financial woes — it has gone into liquidation — could hurt trust and confidence in the fledgling industry.

Other bike-sharing companies also said they are worried that oBike’s sudden exit and financial woes — it has gone into liquidation — could hurt trust and confidence in the fledgling industry.

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SINGAPORE — While they have yet to experience any backlash from commuters, some bike-sharing firms said that they have received calls and email messages from the public since news broke about oBike's abrupt exit on Monday (June 25).

At least two operators have received several requests from riders asking for refunds of their money parked with the firm. The companies also said they are worried that oBike's sudden exit and financial woes — it has gone into liquidation — could hurt trust and confidence in the fledgling industry.

SG Bike's marketing director Benjamin Oh said: "There are some (social media) comments that are quite against the entire industry over what happened… we are observing what people are saying and we hope that this incident does not impact the industry so much."

SG Bike and other bike-sharing firms such as Anywheel and Ofo do not require customers to place a deposit to use their bicycles, while Mobike users have to pay a S$49 deposit. All the firms have a credit system that riders have to use — the credits can be topped up to pay per use, or be paid monthly as a concession.

Mr Oh said on Wednesday that "one or two" of its customers had asked over email whether SG Bike could refund the value in their credit accounts. He told TODAY that "the top-up value (in the SG Bike mobile application) will remain and the credit will never expire". It is up to riders to use that for the bike service.

Anywheel also had at least three people who wanted refunds in some form or another. Its strategy manager Seet Rui Jie said: "There have been instances of customers asking for a refund of the credits that they have topped up to use our bikes."

Mr Seet added that one customer mistakenly asked if deposits could be refunded when Anywheel did not collect deposits, while another mistook a bicycle from oBike for one from Anywheel, and asked for a refund of the credits when the bike could not be unlocked.

Following oBike's announcement that it was ceasing operations in Singapore on Monday, many of the app's users have been scrambling to get refunds of their S$49 deposit (S$19 for students) from the firm, with not much success.

Mr Seet told TODAY that there was one customer who was "worried about the state of the bike-sharing industry" and called to ask for a refund of credits.

"The public's confidence in the bike-sharing market, as a whole, has been affected," Mr Seet said, though "in general", Anywheel is unaffected by what happened to oBike.

Business operations at Ofo have also been largely unaffected. Mr Christopher Hilton, head of public policy and communications at Ofo South-east Asia, said that it had "no additional requests" from users pertaining to refunds.

"What we expect to see are more users riding Ofo bikes as the available supply from other operators has decreased," he added.

The company also said that there has been "a negligible increase" in queries on social media regarding bike-sharing policies.

Mobike declined comment on the issue of refunds, but assured users that their deposits are fully refundable.

"The refund process begins immediately upon receiving such a request in the Mobike app," its spokesperson said.

On oBike's departure from the market here, Mr Seet said that it is a wake-up call to a relatively young start-up such as Anywheel, which began operations early this year.

"(The) public's confidence in the bike-sharing industry has been shaken and it will take time for the remaining operators to regain this confidence," he said.

"Operators in the industry will be more cautious in spending," he added.

Under amendments made to the Parking Places Act passed in Parliament in March, operators offering dockless shared bikes, personal mobility devices, and power-assisted bicycles will have to acquire a licence before they are allowed to operate here.

Applications for the licence opened last month for bicycle-sharing operators, and will close on July 7.

As part of the licensing conditions, operators will have to properly regulate indiscriminate bicycle parking.

SG Bike said that it sent in its application on Wednesday.

On Monday, oBike said that it had difficulties complying with the licensing regime, when explaining why it had to leave the Singapore market. A day later, it was revealed that it was debt-ridden.

Under the amended Act, riders caught parking shared bicycles indiscriminately more than three times a year will be banned temporarily from renting from all bike-sharing operators, while those who do not park their bicycles in designated parking areas will continue to be charged for the trip until they do.

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