Philippines Approves Grab-Uber Deal

The Philippine competition watchdog said on Friday it has approved ride hail firm Grab’s acquisition of Uber’s operations, providing it follows rules to ensure fairness to consumers given its stranglehold of the local market. The Philippine Competition Commission would strictly monitor Grab’s compliance with conditions intended to improve quality of service over the next 12 months, amid complaints about picky drivers and sharp prices increases at peak times, Reuters reported. Any breach of conditions could result in fines of up to two million pesos ($37,624) per offense and serious non-compliance could lead to the Grab-Uber deal being undone, it said. “While Grab operates as a virtual monopolist, the commitments assure the public that quality and price levels that would prevail are those that had been when they still faced competition from Uber,” PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan told reporters. Those include improving fare transparency, acceptance rates for bookings and faster response time to complaints and re-evaluating drivers’ incentives. Grab has a 93% share of the Philippines’ ride-hailing market, up from 45% when Uber was active.