No quid pro quo involved in Uber-related deals, Malaysian minister said

KUALA LUMPUR  — Putrajaya has denied the existence of any quid pro quo arrangements involving e-hailing service provider Uber that led to the government legalising it and another service, Grab, earlier this year.

According to The Star, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Nancy Shukri said on Friday (Sept 22) that there was no arrangement that “affected decision making in relation to the regulation of ride hailing businesses here.”

Nancy’s response came after a DAP lawmaker raised alarm over a Bloomberg report which said the parent company was probing Uber Malaysia’s dealings with Putrajaya-linked funds less than a year before e-hailing services were legalised in the country.

Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong pointed out that according to the report, Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP)’s US$30 million (S$40.4 million) investment in Uber last year and Uber’s donation for the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), which is also backed by Putrajaya, were under scrutiny from Uber’s own lawyers.

Both MaGIC and KWAP refuted claims of being involved in any form of such arrangements.

“Earlier this week, we were surprised to find ourselves named in an article which levelled serious accusations at the way Uber has operated in the region. We strongly refute our involvement in any quid pro quo arrangement,” MaGIC chief executive Ashran Ghazi said in a statement.

KWAP in a separate statement reportedly said that its investment in Uber was made by the book and was based on investment evaluations.

“We would like to reiterate our commitment to our mandate in delivering continued progress to pensioners and civil servants to ensure a sustainable growth in fund size and ultimately boosting the fund performance,” it said in a statement on Thursday.

Both KWAP’s investment and the donation to MaGIC took place in August last year, while the amendment to the Land Public Transport Act 2010 which legalised e-hailing services was passed by the Dewan Rakyat in July this year. Malay Mail Online