A netizen from Hunan posted on October 4th that on the evening of September 30th, they booked a hitchhike from Xiangtan to Yiyang through the Hello platform. The cost of the ride was 161.7 yuan, with two other passengers traveling together. After getting in the car, the driver charged each passenger an advance fee for the highway toll, which was 30 yuan per person, totaling 60 yuan.

The netizen stated that the driver entered a service area on the way, claiming that the electric vehicle needed to be charged. Subsequently, the driving speed continued to slow down, and it was not until 0:00 a.m. on October 1st, when the free highway passage policy took effect, that the vehicle left the highway toll station. In fact, no highway tolls were incurred throughout the journey.

According to the information provided, the distance from Xiangtan to Yiyang is over 120 kilometers. Navigation apps indicate that a normal drive should take about 2 hours, but in reality, this journey took more than 5 hours. The driver did not arrive at the destination until around 1 a.m. on October 1st.

After arriving at the destination, the two passengers learned that there was no charge for using the highway, so they requested the driver to refund the 60 yuan toll that had been collected earlier. The driver refused to refund the money, stating that "the free highway during National Day is for the vehicles, not for the passengers." After unsuccessful negotiations between the two parties, the passengers posted about their experience online and filed a complaint with the Hello platform, requesting the platform to intervene in the matter.

After seeing the relevant feedback, the customer service staff took the initiative to contact the complaining passenger via private message, asking for order information and stating that a specialist would be arranged to verify and follow up on the matter.

On October 4th, Hello Platform's customer service stated in response to Jimu News that during the National Day holiday, they did receive complaints from some passengers regarding drivers charging for highway fees. The platform is currently investigating the matter. The staff member clarified that there are clear regulations on the platform stating that if no highway tolls are incurred during the journey, drivers are not allowed to charge passengers for these fees. If the complaints are verified to be true, the platform will refund the relevant fees to the passengers and impose penalties on the drivers, suspending their operating qualifications.

As previously reported by IT, Hello Hitchcar issued a guide to highway toll sharing rules in May 2026, stating that who would bear the highway tolls would be determined by the notes made by passengers when placing orders. By accepting a order, drivers agreed to these terms. If a passenger chooses "willing to negotiate the fee," the driver must reach an agreement with the passenger through the platform's chat box or by phone within 2 hours after accepting the order and before the passenger gets in the car; if no agreement is reached by the deadline, the driver is not required to charge the highway toll by default.

In addition, according to reports from multiple media outlets, starting from January 29, 2026, the three major car-hailing platforms—Didi, Hello, and Gaode—have implemented new regulations for sharing highway tolls in a unified manner. These regulations, in line with guidelines issued by the Ministry of Transport, clearly state core principles such as "the person who voluntarily chooses to take the highway shall bear the full cost, and when multiple people share a ride, the tolls shall be evenly distributed among them based on the number of passengers."

Related Reading:

• Who Should Pay for the High-Speed Toll on Hitchhiking Services? Hello Releases a Rule Guide
• Passenger claims ride-hailing carpool driver slept while using assisted driving on highway; platform responds, "We are closely monitoring the driver's behavior."
• "Didi Chuxing responds to driver using assisted driving to trim nails on the highway: The car owner's account has been banned"