oBike chairman says he's sorry for ‘any misunderstandings’

SINGAPORE — The chairman of oBike has apologised “if there were misunderstandings” about his earlier comments to the media, claiming that a remark — which linked refunds of customers’ deposits to potential fees imposed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the firm’s failure to remove its fleet from the streets — was made by a staff member who prepared the media response on his behalf.

On Wednesday (July 4), Mr Shi Yi, 29, who is based in China, said the statement did not originate from him.

“One of our staff put (out) this remark apparently… As said before, oBike is committed to putting all efforts to retrieve the bikes,” he told TODAY via email.

He added: “Vendors were also appointed already and we are fully cooperating with the related authorities to get the streets clean as soon as possible. We hope to make LTA happy again with the result.”

Late on Tuesday, the eve of a deadline which the LTA set for oBike to remove its fleet of bicycles from public spaces, the government agency expressed its disappointment that the firm has failed to keep to its word to refund deposits to users.

“(We are) deeply disappointed that oBike has now reneged on its earlier commitment to refund customers’ deposits and in turn conveniently linked this to potential fees by LTA,” it said. It also highlighted that it is oBike's responsibility to remove its bicycles from public areas.

The LTA was responding to Mr Shi’s earlier email interview with Channel NewsAsia. Mr Shi had said that any extra cost the company incurs "might affect" its available funds to refund customers, and the firm will do what it can to meet the requirements that the LTA has set.

He also said the company is doing what it can to refund the money and hopes that the LTA will not levy fees if it fails to clear the bicycles.

In its statement on Tuesday, the LTA said that when it met with the oBike founders, including Mr Shi, on June 30, oBike's management "had committed" to exit the market responsibly by removing their bicycles from public spaces as soon as possible and refunding monies owed to customers.

oBike further pledged that "it would pay for the clean-up of bicycles using funds from its shareholders or other sources, and not user deposits", it added. The LTA noted that on July 1, about a week after oBike announced its exit, Mr Shi "had also publicly and personally committed to a full refund of customers' deposits".

Last Monday, oBike — which had more than one million users here — abruptly announced that it was ending its operations in Singapore.

It later revealed that it had gone into liquidation. Scores of riders had to scramble to recover their mandatory deposits — up to S$49 — that they placed with the firm.

While oBike was given till Wednesday to remove its entire fleet of bicycles, it was unable to meet the LTA’s deadline.

When TODAY visited Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Jurong and Choa Chu Kang for example, there were still oBike bicycles strewn around the estates, although the numbers appear to have fallen.

As of 7pm, Wednesday, there were still at least 80 bicycles scattered around Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 and 3. Workers from West Street Carrier, a contractor of oBike, were seen picking up bicycles in the neighbourhood. Six lorries from the same company — each one loaded with up to 60 bicycles — were also spotted in the area on their collection rounds.

Two workers, who did not want to be named, said the company had been assisting oBike with delivering bicycles to the different areas since it was launched in Singapore last April.

They told TODAY that they have been collecting oBike bicycles since last week. They would go to the areas with more complaints of obstructions first, such as Ang Mo Kio, and had picked up bicycles in Bedok and Bukit Batok on Wednesday morning.

One of the workers said: “In the first few days I was able to lift the bikes and toss them into the lorry, but now my muscles are really painful. I can only load the bicycles one by one onto the truck.

“There are simply too many bikes, I don’t think we can finish by today,” added the worker, who said he had come across many damaged oBike bicycles.

The bicycles will be delivered to two metal recycle centres in the west, where they will be melted down into blocks and recycled, said the worker. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHEN LIN, JUSTIN ONG GUANG-XI