E-HAILING provider Grab today maintained its position of not breaching anti-monopoly laws, saying it would respond to the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) by November 27.

A company spokesman said the management was surprised by MyCC’s proposed fine.

This morning, MyCC proposed a RM86 million fine against Grab for breaching anti-monopoly laws.

MyCC chief executive officer Iskandar Ismail said it was a proposed decision and not final, adding that Grab could present its defence within 30 days.

In the meantime, the company will be subjected to a daily RM15,000 penalty today onwards.

“We complied fully with the Competition Act 2010. We are surprised by the proposed decision that we received this morning,” said the spokesman.

“While our legal counsel are now studying the proposed decision, we believe that it is common practice for businesses to decide upon the availability and type of third-party advertising on their respective platforms, tailored according to consumers’ needs and feedback.

“We will be submitting our written representations to MyCC by November 27.”

Iskandar had said Grab abused its dominant position by imposing a number of restrictive clauses on its drivers.

It had prevented them from promoting and providing advertising services for Grab’s competitors in the e-hailing and transit media advertising market.

The regulator conducted a probe following accusations of the Singapore-based company’s monopolistic practices after its takeover of rival Uber’s Southeast Asian operations in March last year.

Grab had said the acquisition was made in good faith, with the aim of providing more benefits to consumers. – October 3, 2019.