KUALA LUMPUR: Grab Holdings Inc and its two subsidiaries has successfully set aside a proposed RM86.77mil fine by Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) after the High Court here allowed the e-hailing company’s judicial review over alleged “restrictive clauses” imposed on its drivers.
High Court judge Justice Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, in his decision, said that the proposed amount by MyCC was “tainted with procedural impropriety and breach of natural justice.”
He issued a certiorari order that quashed the proposed decision by MyCC, including the proposed fine.
The court, however, did not make an order for damages.
The judge said it was not shown to him that there was an element of mala fide on the part of MyCC in making a press statement about the proposed fine.
The court fixed costs at RM20,000 to be paid by MyCC to Grab.
On Oct 3, 2019, MyCC, claimed that Grab had abused its dominant position by imposing restrictive clauses on its drivers; preventing them from promoting and providing advertising services for the latter’s competitors; and the transit media advertising market. It proposed a fine in the millions to be imposed on the company.
Grab then initiated a legal challenge against MyCC’s findings. But in 2020, the High Court denied leave for Grab to commence a judicial review on grounds that the move was “premature” as a proposed decision was not yet final.
Grab appealed the decision and in April 2021, the Court of Appeal allowed Grab’s appeal to obtain leave and remitted the case back to the High Court for a hearing on its merits.
MyCC appealed the decision to the Federal Court but it was denied.
The High Court then proceeded on a full hearing for the merits of the judicial review last year.
