Illustrative image (Source: Reuters)KualaLumpur (VNA) – The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has proposeda fine of over 86 million ringgit (20.5 million USD) on ride-hailing firm Grabfor violating competition law by imposing restrictive clauses on its drivers.
The commission ruled that Grab had abused its dominant position in the marketby preventing its drivers from promoting and providing advertisement servicesfor its competitors.
Therestrictive clauses had the effect of distorting competition in the relevantmarket that is premised on multi-sided platforms by creating barriers to entryand expansion for Grab’s existing and future competitors, MyCC ChairmanIskandar Ismail said.
MyCCalso imposed a daily penalty of 15,000 ringgit (3,600 USD) beginning on October3 for as long as Grab fails to address the concerns.
Iskandarsaid Grab had 30 working days to make their representations to the commissionbefore a final decision would be made.
Singapore-basedGrab has yet to respond to the decision.
The regulator said last year it would monitor Grab for possibleanti-competitive behavior after its acquisition of rival Uber TechnologiesInc’s Southeast Asian business in March 2018.
Under Malaysia’s Competition Act, a monopoly or dominant player in the marketis not an infringement of the law, unless it abuses its position in the market./.
VNA
