Grab Philippines will no longer need an approval from the Philippine Competition Commission to acquire Move It as the transaction “did not breach the thresholds for compulsory notification,” a high-ranking official of the anti-thrust body said Tuesday.
“Hence, the parties need not wait for approval from the PCC to consummate the transaction,” PCC officer-in-charge chairperson Johannes Bernabe said in a statement.
Grab Philippines acquired Move It in August.
Ronald Gustilo, Digital Pinoys National campaigner, said they were opposing the “seeming backdoor entry” of Grab into the motorcycle taxi pilot study.
Gustilo said the PCC earlier ordered Grab to refund commuters for over-pricing. He said of the P25.45 million Grab was asked to return to commuters, it was only able to refund P6.15 million as of March 2022.
Gustilo expressed concern that with Grab’s backdoor entry, the pilot testing of motorcycle taxi would be jeopardized and that the fare would increase.
Bernabe of PCC said “publicly available information suggests that the transaction was entered into by the parties when the P50-billion notification thresholds under Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act was in effect”.
“Likewise, the publicly announced size of transaction seems to not have breached the thresholds under the Bayanihan Law,” he said.
Bernabe said, however, that PCC could still launch a motu proprio review of the transaction if it found reasonable grounds to believe that the deal would result in substantial lessening of competition in the relevant markets.
“Transactions in digital markets are often characterized by small tangible assets that fail to meet the triggers for mandatory review. Their importance and utility to consumers, however, rank high in the priorities of the Commission to merit steadfast monitoring,” he said.
Bernabe also said the latest acquisition by Grab Philippines would not affect the company’s existing legal commitments to the PCC relating to its takeover of Uber.
Grab Philippines earlier said Move It would continue to operate as a separate entity and use its own platform, despite a change in ownership. It will also work with Move It to enhance its safety and service quality standards and be at par with Grab’s motorcycle taxi services across Southeast Asia.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista earlier said there was no need to review the deal between Grab and Move IT, “because it is a private transaction.”
“What we are looking at is how they [Grab and Move IT] can operate more efficiently and safely. That’s our concern,” Bautista said, adding that he saw nothing illegal about the transaction.