(Yicai Global) April 1 -- Beijing Mobike Technology has more than doubled its hourly bike rental rates in Beijing as key investor Meituan Dianping struggles to contend with long-term losses.

Mobike now charges CNY2.5 (37 US cents) per hour, up from CNY1, Consumer Herald reported. The hike follows a similar move by rival Bluegogo in the capital last month.

Profitability is a massive issue in bike sharing, and the sector has not yet developed a solid profit model, the report cited an industry insider as saying. Operators are over-reliant on financing and their investors can no longer bear these losses -- price hikes were inevitable, the source said.

Bluegogo announced last month that it was increasing its rates to CNY1 for the first 15 minutes and CNY0.5 for every subsequent quarter hour -- up from CNY1 per hour. Monthly membership rates at both providers are unaffected.

Mobike brought in revenue of CNY1.5 billion (USD224 million) from April 4 until the end of last year, according to Meituan Dianping's 2018 financial report. But it lost CNY4.6 billion, making up more than half of Meituan's total CNY8.5 billion deficit that year.

The bike sharer has been slowly sidling out of several of its 19 overseas markets under pressure to start making money, and is evaluating its performance in others with the possibility of further withdrawals.

Rivals Ofo and Hello Chuxing, formerly Hellobike, have not yet followed suit. Ofo charges CNY1 per hour with a minimum charge of CNY1, while Hello Chuxing charges CNY1 per half hour with the same minimum fee.

Speculation as to whether or not that will change has been rife online. Netizens on social network Sina Weibo believe an industry-wide hike is still some time away, as Hello Chuxing has managed to refine operations to the point of profitability, so may not need to raise prices.

Each Hello Chuxing bike costs about CNY0.3 a day to run and maintain, and depreciates by about CNY0.6 daily, Chief Executive Yang Lei said on Oct. 24, but adding that average daily income per bike is more than CNY1.

Editor: James Boynton