Malaysia said on April 2 that it will put Grab on the anti-competition watchlist after rival Uber offloaded its Southeast Asian operations to the Singapore-based taxi firm (Photo: www.thestar.com.my) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia said on April 2 that it will put Grab on the anti-competition watchlist after rival Uber offloaded its Southeast Asian operations to the Singapore-based taxi firm.
Malaysia's Competition Commission will keep tabs on Grab, especially if the company imposes unfair practices or suddenly increases fares, a government minister said.
According to Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, the inspection is necessary to ensure fair competition in transport services.
If there is any anti-competition behaviour, the Competition Act will come into force, she stressed.
She said Grab, which is valued at about 6 billion USD, had guaranteed during their meeting last week that there would be neither unfair pricing nor fare increases.
Meanwhile, Singapore announced on March 30 that it is investigating the sale of Uber's Southeast Asia business to Grab over concerns that it may impact competition in the city-state.
The Competition Commission of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has issued "proposed interim measures directions" to the two companies ordering them not to take any action that may lead to the integration of their businesses in Singapore while the investigation continues.
The commission said in a statement that it is also ordering them to maintain their pricing policies and product options before the deal is reached and not to share any confidential information pertaining to pricing with each other.
It added that the deal infringes Section 54 of the Competition Act due to substantial lessening of competition.
As part of the deal, Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab, marking its second exit in Asia.
The car pooling service is expected to expand five-fold to 13.1 billion USD by 2025.
Though present in more than 600 cities worldwide, Uber still faces challenges when facing scandals and protests from traditional taxi firms in both Asia and Europe.
According to Grab’s announcement to acquire Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, Grab will integrate Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business in the region into Grab’s existing platform.
It will take over Uber’s operations and assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Grab is one of the most frequently used O2O mobile platforms in 195 cities in Southeast Asia. More than 5 million people use the combined platform daily. -VNA
Malaysia's Competition Commission will keep tabs on Grab, especially if the company imposes unfair practices or suddenly increases fares, a government minister said.
According to Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri, the inspection is necessary to ensure fair competition in transport services.
If there is any anti-competition behaviour, the Competition Act will come into force, she stressed.
She said Grab, which is valued at about 6 billion USD, had guaranteed during their meeting last week that there would be neither unfair pricing nor fare increases.
Meanwhile, Singapore announced on March 30 that it is investigating the sale of Uber's Southeast Asia business to Grab over concerns that it may impact competition in the city-state.
The Competition Commission of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has issued "proposed interim measures directions" to the two companies ordering them not to take any action that may lead to the integration of their businesses in Singapore while the investigation continues.
The commission said in a statement that it is also ordering them to maintain their pricing policies and product options before the deal is reached and not to share any confidential information pertaining to pricing with each other.
It added that the deal infringes Section 54 of the Competition Act due to substantial lessening of competition.
As part of the deal, Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab, marking its second exit in Asia.
The car pooling service is expected to expand five-fold to 13.1 billion USD by 2025.
Though present in more than 600 cities worldwide, Uber still faces challenges when facing scandals and protests from traditional taxi firms in both Asia and Europe.
According to Grab’s announcement to acquire Uber’s Southeast Asia operations, Grab will integrate Uber’s ridesharing and food delivery business in the region into Grab’s existing platform.
It will take over Uber’s operations and assets in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Grab is one of the most frequently used O2O mobile platforms in 195 cities in Southeast Asia. More than 5 million people use the combined platform daily. -VNA
VNA
