A court in east China's Shandong Province decided on Tuesday to uphold a ruling ordering the revocation of a fine against a private car owner who carried passengers without a license.

The Intermediate People's Court of Jinan, capital of Shandong, ruled that the Jinan public passenger transport administration center should revoke a 20,000 yuan (2,900 U.S. dollars) fine it issued to Chen Chao, a private car owner, in January 2015.

The ruling brought China's first case involving a cab-hailing app to a close.

In January 2015, Chen was fined for carrying paying passengers, who found him via Didi, without a license.

Private car owners are not allowed to carry passengers for profit in China under the current law.

Due to the complexity of the case, the trial was postponed four times.

The Shizhong District People's Court of Jinan decided on December 30 that although Chen did transport passengers without a license, his behavior posed little threat to society and the punishment was too severe. The Jinan public passenger transport administration center later appealed.