Singapore's competition watchdog sentences Grab, Uber up to $ 9.5 million following merger

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore's anti-trust agency Grab and Uber have fined Singapore's S $ 13 million (£ 7.3 million) merger deal and ordered Uber to sell a reasonable deal.

Uber Technologies Inc., based in the United States, sold its Southeast Asia business to its largest regional competitor, Grab, in March, in exchange for a 27.5% stake in the Singapore-based company .

The agreement was subject to regulatory review in the region, the Singapore Competition and Consumer Commission (CCCS) – in a rare move – launched an investigation just days after the announcement of l & # 39; agreement.

The CCCS said Monday it has finalized several measures to reduce the impact of the transaction on drivers and riders, and open the market to new players. He also stated that the merger had significantly reduced competition in the market.

The regulator said it imposed a $ 6.6 million fine on Uber and $ 6.4 million on Singapore to deter future irreversible mergers that hurt competition. He also ordered Grab to withdraw his exclusive agreements with taxi drivers and fleets.

"Mergers that substantially reduce competition are prohibited and the CCCS has taken action against the Grab-Uber merger because it has eliminated Grab's closest rival, to the detriment of Singapore's riders and riders," Toh Han Li said. .

The regulator indicated that the effective rates on Grab increased by 10 to 15% after the transaction and that the company now holds an 80% market share in Singapore.

He asked Grab to maintain his pre-merger pricing algorithm and driver commission rates.

It also ordered Uber to sell vehicles from its Singapore-based Lion City Rentals to any potential competitor who makes a reasonable fair market value offer and prohibits Uber from selling such vehicles to Grab without regulatory approval.

Lion City's fleet totaled 14,000 vehicles in December.

Uber felt that the decision of the CCCS was based on a "too narrow market definition and wrongly described the dynamic nature of the sector, among other concerns".

Grab stated that it had finalized the transaction as part of its legal rights and maintained that it had not intentionally or negligently violated the competition laws.

He added that he had not increased fares since the agreement and that for drivers to have the maximum choice, all transport stakeholders, including taxis, should also be subject to non-exclusive conditions. .

She stated that she would respect the remedies provided by the CCCS.