Grab got lucky when the Court of Appeals (COA) on Wednesday upheld a decision made by the KL High Court that basically killed a proposed fine of RM86.77 million, imposed by the Malaysian Competition Commission (MyCC), back in 2019.
To provide some background: back in 2019, the MyCC announced that it was proposing a RM86.77 million fine on Grab, due to an advertising clause that the e-hailing service put on its driver-partners. The clause essentially banned and prohibited driver-partners from promoting or advertising other e-hailing services so long as they worked with the company.
In addition to quashing the proposed fine, the three-member COA panel also ordered MyCC to pay RM50,000 in costs to Grab. The appellate bench also found MyCC to have been “cavalier” in its investigations against Grab, as well as having engaged in procedural impropriety.
In laymen terms, MyCC basically may or may not have provided adequate details to Grab throughout its investigation and therefore failed to allow it to provide an adequate defense against the charges.
(Additional source: The Edge)
