SINGAPORE — The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) on Monday (Aug 14) said it was seeking public feedback on tech firm Grab's proposed acquisition of taxi operator Trans-cab.

The competition watchdog is looking for views on how the acquisition, first announced in July, could affect the price, quality and quantity of street-and ride-hailing services by taxi and private-hire car drivers, among other aspects.

The closing date for submissions is 5pm on Aug 25, with more information available on the CCCS website.

If it goes through, the move will see 100 per cent of shares in Trans-cab - Singapore's third-largest taxi operator with a fleet of more than 2,500 vehicles — acquired through Grab's private-hire car rental arm Grab Rentals.

Both parties expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

During a parliamentary sitting on Aug 3, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan said CCCS would assess the impact of the acquisition and consult stakeholders before reaching a decision.

The competition watchdog is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

CCCS on Monday noted that Grab and Trans-cab have applied for a decision on whether the acquisition would infringe section 54 of the Competition Act 2004, which prohibits mergers that have resulted or may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition.

According to CCCS, Grab and Trans-cab have argued that the acquisition will not result in a substantial lessening of competition in the market, in view of "minimal overlaps" between them; a lack of prohibitive barriers to entry; and a highly fragmented and competitive rental market.

"Grab will continue to be constrained by the strong competition posed by other technology companies and taxi operators in the platform market," the two parties said.

"Passengers are well-informed and use more than one ride-hail platform service, while drivers exhibit a high level of price sensitivity and are inclined to switch to rival operators when presented with more favourable fee structures, rates, or incentives."

CCCS said Grab and Trans-cab also addressed other competition concerns, such as how the acquisition encompasses the latter's maintenance workshop operations.

"Trans-cab’s workshop currently only serves its own fleet of taxis and private-hire cars. Even if GrabRentals fully relies on Trans-cab’s workshop following the proposed acquisition, third party workshops would still be able to service other rental fleets in Singapore, and private cars more generally," the two parties submitted.

They also noted that under Singapore's point-to-point regulatory framework — which requires all ride-hail and street-hail service providers with a fleet size of at least 800 vehicles to be licensed — drivers are free to use any platforms to offer ride-hail services.

"It is not expected that there will be any significant increase in the number of drivers on the Grab mobile platform as compared to before the proposed acquisition."

Grab's planned acquisition of Trans-cab follows the merger of Strides Taxi and Premier Taxis in May to form Singapore's second-largest taxi operator.

In 2018, CCCS fined Grab and ride-hailing platform Uber S$13m over their merger. The deal led to a substantial lessening of competition in the market, the watchdog said then, highlighting Grab’s increased prices and changes to its loyalty programme after it bought over Uber's Southeast Asia operations. CNA