Mobike claims one million yuan in compensation for illegal ads

Chinese bike-sharing giant Mobike has sought one million yuan (around $151,000 U.S. dollars) in compensation from a Shanghai-based company for illegally putting advertisements on its bicycles, reports Beijing Youth Daily.

A row of Mobike's bicycles with white seat covers printed with advertising in Shanghai, on November 30, 2017. [Photo: IC]

Mobike brought a suit against the company, Shanghai Huijia Information Technology Co. Ltd, in Shanghai Pudong New Area People's Court on December 12. Mobike has alleged that Huijia Company put seat covers printed with its advertising on as many as 200,000 bikes in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan and Chengdu.

Residents have complained that advertisements are all over the shared bikes, and that some of them contain fraudulent information. "These advertising stickers are so annoying," complained a Beijing resident surnamed Ge.

A Mobike shared bike covered with advertising stickers in Xi'an, northeast China's Shaanxi Province, on December 8, 2017. [Photo: IC]

Mobike said the behavior of Huijia Company "has damaged Mobike's image and increased the cost of cleaning the bikes to remove the advertisements."

Mobike has opened a special line for shared bike users to call and report illegal advertisements. It also plans to set up a database of illegal advertisements so that it can take legal action against other companies posting advertisements on their bikes.