Govt may take legal action if Grab increases fares

PUTRAJAYA: Ride-hailing service provider, Grab, has given assurance that the Grab and Uber merger exercise will not affect the fares, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.

“The government can take action against Grab if it is found to have raised the fares following the merger of Grab-Uber in Southeast Asia,” she said in a statement yesterday.

Nancy, who had a meeting with Grab yesterday, said that the government would consider taking legal action under the Competition Act 2010 to prevent monopolistic position and pacts by large enterprises in manipulating the price of goods and services.

On the allegation that Uber employees were adversely affected by the merger exercise, Nancy said she was informed that their temporary lay-off was in place to allow Grab to formally re-employ suitable positions to the affected Uber employees.

According to the minister, Uber employees were currently placed on paid leave for the next three months with medical benefits as Grab would find new roles for them.

There are 80 Uber employees in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) will cooperate with government agencies such as the Malaysia Competition Commission and relevant nongovernmental organisations to ensure the rights of consumers are protected following the Uber-Grab merger in Southeast Asia.

In a statement yesterday, SPAD stressed that the stand of the commission in regulating the e-hailing sector did not change following the exercise which saw Uber merging with Grab in Southeast Asia.

“The commission will continue to monitor and regulate the e-hailing sector based on the existing legal framework and policies so that the industry could develop with healthy competition while maintaining good operation safety as well as ensuring the welfare of passengers and drivers is protected,” the commission said.

According to SPAD, the body will ensure the taxi and e-hailing industry would operate and compete fairly under the Taxi Industry Transformation Programme (TITP) aimed at improving the level of professionalism and the competitiveness of conventional taxi.

On Monday, Uber Technologies Inc agreed to sell its South-East Asian operations to Grab, withdrawing from yet another fast-growing region to end a war of attrition with a fierce local rival.

It was reported that under the agreement, Grab would acquire all of Uber’s operations in a region of 620 million people, including food delivery service UberEats.