On Monday, October 22, Uber announced it will appeal a decision by Singapore’s antitrust watchdog that its merger with Grab violated the city-state’s competition laws, reported Reuters.
Last month, Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) slapped a US$9.5 million combined fine on Uber and Grab, ruling that the former’s takeover of the latter’s Southeast Asia operations had substantially decreased competition in the local ride-hailing market.
Uber stated it was making the appeal independently of Grab, as a matter of principle. Separately, Grab announced it would not appeal the regulator’s decision.
The CCCS’s ruling that the transaction led to a substantial lessening of competition, and that Uber had intentionally breached the law, was “unsupported and incorrect,” Uber claimed in a statement.
Uber asked the CCCS to annul its fine and claimed the regulator had used a very narrow definition of the ride-hailing market.
Uber disputed the CCCS’s allegation that Uber knew that the transaction infringed the law, but nevertheless moved ahead. “To the contrary, our view has always been that in a properly defined market – including at the very least ride-sharing, street-hail taxis and new entrants – the transaction respects the law and does not raise significant concerns,” it stated.
