New Measures to Ease Entrance of Other Ride-Hailing Apps

Obbana Rajah Uber Singapore has just announced that the app will be available for use until the 7^th of May. This extension is in compliance with the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS). Late last week, the CCCS released a statement outlining the interim measures that Grab and Uber will have to take before finally shutting down the Uber app. These measures are to, according to the CCCS, “keep the market open and contestable”. In its statement, the CCCS explained that these measures were necessary in order to tackle the following issues:

1. The intense competition between Uber and Grab. Their significant combined market share exacerbates this. Furthermore, “their close rivalry can be seen from the surge in Uber’s fares following the recent outages of Grab’s app”.

2. It would be difficult for a new ride-hailing platform to enter the market in competition with these existing, very well established companies. CCCS stated, “In particular, many drivers are constrained by exclusivity arrangements such that they can only drive for one ride-hailing platform”. 3. To facilitate the handover between Uber and Grab that is signified by the transfer of assets. CCCS also listed other regulations that Uber and Grab are expected to comply with. There have been talks of two more ride-hailing apps to enter Singapore markets and these measures are in preparation of that, along with the Grab-Uber merger. Check out the full statement here.

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obbana@theindependent.sg