Singapore: Grab defends Uber deal

On Friday, July 27, Grab stated that it disagreed with the Singaporean anti-monopoly watchdog’s assessment that its takeover of Uber’s operations had harmed competition and called the Commission’s suggested measure of removing exclusivity arrangements with drivers as “one-sided,” reported Straight Times.

Earlier this year, Uber Technologies sold its Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab in exchange for a stake in the Singapore-based firm. But the deal has prompted regulatory scrutiny.

“Grab believes that this double-standard goes against the spirit of increasing choices for drivers and riders,” said its spokesman in a statement Friday.

“Current market realities unfortunately do not reflect this, for instance, taxi operators are still able to restrict their drivers’ ability to receive fixed-fare jobs on other platforms,” the spokesman said.

Uber, which is based in the US, had announced in March that it was quitting the South-east Asian market and that Grab was acquiring its regional operations.

Full Content: The Straits Times

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