GRAB-UBER SINGAPORE GRABBINGS

GRAB defends position in UBER deal to Singapore's anti-monopoly watchdog. So, Grab said on Friday it disagreed with the Singaporean anti-monopoly watchdog's assessment that its takeover of Uber's operations had-

Harmed competition and called the commission's suggested measure of removing exclusivity arrangements with drivers as " one-sided ".

Earlier this year, Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] sold its  Southeast Asian business to bigger regional rival Grab in exchange for a stake in the Singapore-based firm. But the deal has prompted regulatory scrutiny.

In early July, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore [ CCCS ]  provisionally found that the merger had substantially reduced competition and various remedies, such as the sale of their-

Car-leasing  businesses and removing exclusivity obligations on drivers who use Grab's  ride-hailing  platform.

The commission said in a statement that it received representations from Grab and Uber on Thursday and will make its final decision after  " careful consideration of the involved parties representations, feedback on the proposed remedies as well as all available information and evidence."

The  anti-trust  body  has earlier proposed  fines on the firms.

Grab in a written response said the  commission allowed  other players and new entrants to maintain or enter into exclusivity arrangements  with drivers, private hire rental fleet and taxi operators without restrictions.

"Grab believes that this double standard goes against the spirit of  increasingly choices for  drivers and riders, " it said.

Grab was the dominant player in Singapore's ride-hailing market even before the Uber merger. It also competes with taxi businesses such as ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd.

Several new players, such as India's Jugnoo and Singapore based Ryde, have recently entered the  city-state's ride hailing market.

Indonesia's Go-Jek  has also said it would launch services in Singapore.

The CCCS has said the exclusivity arrangements  mean a new  entrant would  have to spend a lot of money to build up driver and rider networks  and similar in scale and size to the incumbents. [Agencies].