KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s competition regulator on Thursday proposed a fine of over 86 million ringgit ($20.5 million) on ride-hailing firm Grab for violating competition law by imposing restrictive clauses on its drivers.
The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) ruled that Singapore-based Grab, which has backing from Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp, had abused its dominant position in the market by preventing its drivers from promoting and providing advertising services for its competitors.
“MyCC further notes that the restrictive clauses had the effect of distorting competition in the relevant market that is premised on multi-sided platforms by creating barriers to entry and expansion for Grab’s existing and future competitors,” MyCC Chairman Iskandar Ismail told a news conference.
MyCC also imposed a daily penalty of 15,000 ringgit beginning on Thursday for as long as Grab fails to address the concerns.
Iskandar said Grab had 30 working days to make their representations to the commission before a final decision would be made.
Grab said it was surprised by the decision as they believed it was “common practice for businesses to decide upon the availability and type of third-party advertising on their respective platforms, tailored according to consumers’ needs and feedback”.
“We maintain our position that we have complied fully with the Competition Act 2010,” a Grab spokeswoman said, adding that the firm would submit its written representations by November 27.
The regulator said last year it would monitor Grab for possible anti-competitive behaviour after its acquisition of rival Uber Technologies Inc’s Southeast Asian business in March 2018. — Reuters
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