Singapore yesterday fined ride-hailing firms Grab and Uber Technologies Inc S$13 million (US$9.52 million) for breaking competition rules when they merged, saying that the deal increased fares and threw up roadblocks for competitors.
Singapore-headquartered Grab in March agreed to buy US competitor Uber’s ride-hailing and food business in Southeast Asia, ending a bruising battle between the companies.
In return, Uber received a 27.5 percent stake in Grab.
However the deal came under scrutiny across the region, and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore was among watchdogs in several countries that launched probes.
In the conclusion to its investigation, the commission said it had found the merger had substantially reduced “competition in the ride-hailing platform market in Singapore.”
Grab fares rose between 10 and 15 percent after the deal as the company reduced the number of points earned by riders and made it harder for them to redeem them, it said.
Potential competitors were hampered by exclusivity agreements that Grab forged with taxi companies, car rental partners and some of its drivers, the commission said.
The deals meant that drivers could not work for other companies.
The commission fined Grab S$6.42 million and Uber S$6.58 million “to deter completed, irreversible mergers that harm competition.”
The body also accused Grab and Uber of not getting the commission’s clearance before completing the deal.
In addition to the fines, the commission ordered several measures be implemented to ease fares and allow new players to compete with Grab, including reverting to premerger pricing and allowing Grab drivers to use other ride-hailing platforms.
Grab Singapore country head Lim Kell Jay said that the firm completed the deal “within its legal rights, and still maintains we did not intentionally or negligently breach competition laws.”
The Philippine Competition Commission last month approved the merger, but imposed conditions related to areas including pricing and exclusivity arrangements to prevent Grab from acting like a monopoly.
Malaysian authorities are still examining the deal.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
Standard Chartered Taiwan on March 26 announced that it has partnered with international fintech firm FinIQ to build an “Automated Structured Products Pricing Platform.” The bank is also introducing products from global issuers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Barclays PLC and BNP Paribas SA. The new platform enables an end-to-end process whereby it finds the most competitive pricing across multiple issuers in a matter of minutes, followed by automated documentation and transaction execution, which significantly shortens time-to-market and delivers a superior wealth management experience. Standard Chartered Bank Taiwan CEO Anthony Yu (游天立) said: “Standard Chartered is increasingly leveraging its wealth management
RSS