Singapore

CONTRARY to Grab's view, the ruling by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) that its takeover of Uber's South-east Asian business threatens competition is fair, lawyers told The Business Times. It is CCCS's role to ensure a level playing field so that consumers don't get held to ransom by monopolies or near monopolies, they said.

Their comments follow Grab's written response to CCCS last week explaining why it disagrees with the Commission's decision that the Grab-Uber merger has led to a "substantial lessening of competition" in the ridehailing sector. The comments also come after GGV Capital - an early investor of Grab - proclaimed that such a decision could hurt innovation and limit investor interest in Singapore and South-east Asia.