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They stand at street corners, lying in bushes, some of which are overturned. In Munich and the surrounding area, according to information from BR Data, there are still around 3,000 yellow wheels from the bike rental company Obike in circulation. Even though the company had announced that it would reduce its number to 1,000 by the end of April. Data reporters from Bayerischer Rundfunk have examined the data behind the Obike application. The result: Nearly 3,000 bicycles are currently in operation in the city of Munich and its surroundings, and there is no sign of the announced retirement.
Locations of nearly 3,000 Obikes in Munich
Last summer, Obike had started in Munich and caused discontent by parking more than 6,000 bikes in the city. In the fall, the company then reduced the number of wheels to just over 4,000. Since then, the company has not picked up significant amounts of bicycles. In addition, some of the wheels that BR reporters found in the city area could not find in the application, so there could be a total of more than 3,000 bikes that are spread throughout the city of Munich.
Obike in Munich has not held the announcement to reduce the number of bicycles to 1,000 by the end of April 2018.
Obike no longer reacts
The city of Munich is angry. Originally, Munich was open to renting private bicycles. Now, Florian Paul, the city 's cycle officer, says, "It is extremely annoying that Obice did not follow the words and that today the wheels that are in town are not used, broken down and there are still complaints ". However, Paul still hopes Obike will clean the bikes: "First of all, Obike is responsible for this, because the city can not intervene." However, it is difficult for the moment to even have a contact at Obike, the company was "overwhelmed".
Obike E-mail from China
Who can speak exactly for Obike, is not clear. The former head of Germany has left the company, even a public relations firm, which previously communicated to the media for Obike, no longer works for Obike. The last sign of life of the company, which received the city of Munich, came from China: "We received a few weeks ago an e-mail from China, which is now supported, always in Munich to collect or store bicycles ". the Munich bike operator Paul. However, nothing has happened since then.
| Frankfurt | 363 |
| Berlin | 178 |
| Hanover | 175 |
| Hildesheim | 39 [19659020] Number of all obikes available in Germany on 9.7.2018, Source: BR Data
Complicated business networkBayerischer Rundfunk research revealed in November 2017 in addition to data protection issues at Obike that behind the brand Obike there is a complex network of businesses hidden, with connections to the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the tax haven of the British Isles Junk, where for example the company Obike Inc. and the brand "Obike" are saved. Bailouts of users at risk?Obike was founded in Singapore, even there Obike had announced pressure from the authorities to reduce the number of wheels in the city-state. And even then, Obike has not managed to keep that in place. There are also money worries. The company owes about four million euros of deposits to users in Singapore, according to a report from the Singaporean newspaper "Straits Times". In Singapore, the company has now filed for bankruptcy. That this also applies to the German branch and how many users in this country would be affected by a possible bankruptcy is not clear. The company has not provided any information on its user numbers in the past. Obike has not responded to our recent requests. In Singapore, a bankruptcy trustee is now busy picking up the wheels. [ad_2]Source link Tags analysis BR data Munich Obikes Related Articles |
