Hanoi (VNA) – Singapore announced on March 30 that it is investigating the sale ofUS ride hailing giant Uber's Southeast Asia business to Grab over concerns thatit may impact competition in the city-state.
The CompetitionCommission of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade andIndustry, has issued "proposed interim measures directions" to thetwo companies ordering them not to take any action that may lead to theintegration of their businesses in Singapore while the investigation continues.
Thecommission said in a statement that it is also ordering them to maintain theirpricing policies and product options before the deal took place and not toshare any confidential information pertaining to pricing with each other.
It addedthat the deal infringes Section 54 of the Competition Act due to substantiallessening of competition.
As part ofthe deal, Uber will take a 27.5 percent stake in Grab, marking its second exitin Asia.
The carpooling service is expected to expand five-fold to 13.1 billion USD by 2025.
Thoughpresent in more than 600 cities worldwide, Uber still faces challenges whenfacing scandals and protests from traditional taxi firms in both Asia and Europe.-VNA
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