BOGOTA, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese mobile ride-hailing platform DiDi Chuxing on Tuesday launched here its new taxi service, DiDi Passengers, making Bogota the first Latin American city to have the service.
This taxi service is payable in cash or via credit card and comes just six months after the company first entered the Colombian market with DiDi Express, its standard ride-hailing service, payable via app.
The decision aims to adapt the company's services to the local market and consumer needs, Jayden Zhu, manager of DiDi Colombia, said in a press release.
"We know that with the 20,000 drivers that we have today in Express and the 5,000 taxis available through the platform today in the city of Bogota, we are contributing to making the technology available to everyone," Zhu said.
"We are betting on becoming the mobility platform that offers users the most products and the greatest security," Zhu added.
Like DiDi Express, the new taxi service provides 24-hour customer service to passengers seven days a week, announced DiDi.
According to the company, it received more than 10,000 applications from would-be drivers, only 50 percent of which passed the rigorous background check and selection process.
"One out of every two drivers who began the registration process was unable to complete it because he failed to pass the security screenings or didn't have his taxi-driver's license up to date," said Zhu.
As part of its expansion plans in Colombia, the company has also launched DiDi Express in other major cities, including Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga.
Beijing-based DiDi is one of the world's largest ride-hailing apps, with more than 2 million registered taxi drivers and over 800 agreements with taxi companies in countries such as China, Japan and Brazil.
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