The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) today has announced that it is proposing RM 86.77 million fine on Grab. Interesting enough, it was due to an advertising clause that the e-haling company puts on its driver-partners.
Specifically, the clause apparently forbids Grab driver-partners from promoting and advertising other e-hailing services which is deemed as a misuse of its dominant position in Malaysia. According to the report by The Edge, MyCC’s CEO, Iskandar Ismail apparently has pointed out that the driver-partners should be able to do anything with their cars since Grab doesn’t own them.
MyCC has also announced a daily penalty of RM 15,000 starting from this Thursday onwards until Grab takes the necessary steps to solve the issue as pointed by the commission. However, Iskandar also has stated that Grab still has 30 working days to respond before the commission announces its final verdict on the issue.
At the moment, Grab has yet to release any statement in relation to MyCC’s announcement although we don’t think the company would just keep quiet about such a significant move by the commission. So, stay tuned. (UPDATE – 710PM: Grab has responded. Check out this report for more details.)
