Business
Prosecutors back Grab appeal
  • | dtinews.vn | February 15, 2019 08:52 PM
HCM City Superior People's Procuracy have rejected a compensation claim by taxi provider Vinasun against app-based journey booker Grab.


 

Prosecutors back Grab appeal



HCM City prosecutors have rejected a verdict that orders Grab to pay VND4.8bn (USD206,000) in compensation for Vinasun Taxi. Vinasun claimed Grab were guilty of unfair competition and the operations of Grab in Vietnam were to blame for a VND42 billion fall in its revenues in 2016 and 2017.

According to the prosecutors, Grab had acquired all permits from the Ministry of Transport and HCM City Department of Planning and Investment so their operation in Vietnam is legal. Moreover, Vinasun's demand for compensation had no legal ground. There could be many reasons for losses including poor management, government policies and changes in the market which were mentioned.

Therefore, the verdict to make Grab compensate Vinasun was groundless.

The prosecutors said Vinasun suffered losses partly because customers prefer Grab’s services. Grab has shown that it is more superior to traditional taxi firms.

Le Dang Doanh, former head of the Central Institute for Economic Management, approved of the appeal and hoped that they would have a fair outcome. Many experts said instead of trying to defeat Grab, Vinasun should find a way to co-operate with other traditional taxi firms to improve service or co-operate with Grab as fighting Grab was ignoring the technological changes it was bringing to the market.

Economist Luong Hoai Nam said Grab was the first that implement electronic bills and active in working with state agencies to send customer trip data to tax authorities. In 2018, Grab contributed over VND440bn in tax, an increase of 232% compared to the previous year.

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