Risks Related to the Sharing Bikes for Foreigners
A Japanese Mr. A rode a sharing bike to home after work. He was knocked down by a car and got injured. Mr. A required the sharing bike company to compensate, and asked the company to apply for the work-related injury benefits. However, the sharing bike company rejected Mr. A’s claim by explaining that it would only undertake liabilities for the accidents due to the defects of the sharing bike. The company rejected Mr. A’s application, because the company insisted that Mr. A was not Chinese, and he could not us Chinese ID card to register for a sharing bike, and his ride was illegal.
In fact, the company’s opinion on the legality of A’s ride is wrong. OFO, Mobike and many other sharing bike companies have accepted foreigners to register as the user with their passports, which means a foreigner who is above 12 years old and has a Chinese mobile phone number, this foreigner could register as a sharing bike user. However, the sharing bike brings both convenience and risks to foreigners. It is recommended to the foreigners to get to know how to deal with different risks. Hereinbelow, this analysis will explain in the logic of different liable parties:
1. Claim to the sharing bike company
(1) If the sharing bike has defects, a foreigner user could ask the sharing bike company to compensate directly. In practice, many sharing bike companies have been insured the product quality lability insurance. Where a sharing bike has defects, the foreign user could obtain the compensation by insurance. For example, Mobike has insured the Zhongan product quality lability insurance. The insurance articles mention if a user encounters an accident due to the defects of the bike while riding, and the user dies or disables in the accident, or the accident brings hurt or damage to a third party’s body or property, upon the determination of the liability by judicial or administration authorities, the insurance company will pay for compensation. OFO has insured the similar insurance.
(2) If the sharing bike does not have any defects, but the user encounters an accident, the compensation shall be decided case by case. A foreign user shall check whether the user’s registration agreement has stipulated such situation, or whether the sharing bike company has insured for such situation. If the answer is yes, then the foreign user could ask the sharing bike company to compensate directly. For example, OFO’s insurance articles mention if a user encounters an accident while riding the sharing bike, no matter the cause, the insurance company will compensate the relevant loss related to the accident. To be mentioned that Mobike’s insurance articles have not mention the liability related to the causes other than the defects of the sharing bike.
2. Claim to the third party
If a third party is liable in the accident, for example, if a foreign user got hurt because the third party violates the traffic regulations, then the foreign user could claim to the third party in accordance with the “Tort Law”.
3. Apply for the work-related injury benefits with the assistance of the employer
If the situation could be identified as a work-related injury situation, such as Mr. A encountered a traffic accident on his way back home after work, and the company has paid the social insurance, then the employee like Mr. A could apply for the work-related injury benefits. However, since the “Social Insurance Law” just recommends employers to pay the social insurance for foreign employees, many employers have not paid the social insurance for foreign employees in China. Normally they may pay the social insurance in their foreign investors’ countries, or purchase the commercial insurance for them. Under such situation, a foreign employee shall review whether the foreign social insurance or the commercial insurance could compensate for such accidents.