Uber and grab

Workers set up a car ban pole on Giảng Võ Street, Hà Nội. - Photo zing.vn Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Hà Nội has decided to ban Uber and Grab cars on 13 streets during rush hours in an effort to tackle increasing traffic jams. The city’s Department of Transport has, so far, installed signs prohibiting taxis and nine-seater commercial cars and smaller ones, including those of popular transportation networks Uber and Grab, on nine out of 13 streets. The ban is due to go into effect from Thursday. Accordingly, commercial cars will not be allowed to run between 6 and 9am and from 4.30 to 7.30pm. The streets on which the cars are banned are Hoàng Hoa Thám, Mai Xuân Thưởng, Giảng Võ and Láng Hạ, as well as Lê Văn Lương, Trường Chinh, Khâm Thiên and Hàng Bài, in addition to Phủ Doãn, Xuân Thủy, Cầu Giấy, Giải Phóng and the Chương Dương Bridge on the lane from Long Biên District to the city centre. Department director Vũ Văn Viện said the ban was aimed at reducing the … [Read more...] about Uber, Grab cars banned on 13 streets

Antitrust regulator expands probe into Grab’s Uber takeover By Thanh Thom A Grab driver is seen riding a passenger on a street in HCMC – PHOTO: THANH HOA HCMC – The Vietnam Competition Authority (VCA), under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is launching a wider investigation into the Singapore-based ride-hailing firm Grab’s acquisition of its competitor Uber Technologies’ operations in Vietnam over signs of breaching market concentration rules. The Vietnam Competition Authority said in a February 12 statement on its website that a committee responsible for the in-depth investigation into Grab's Uber takeover deal had reviewed paperwork and held various meetings so that the relevant sides could express their views on legal and practical issues. Given the new circumstances arising from the information, documents and evidence provided, Deputy Minister of Justice Phan Chi Hieu, on behalf of the committee, signed a decision early this month asking the VCA to carry … [Read more...] about Antitrust regulator expands probe into Grab’s Uber takeover

No economic concentration in Grab-Uber deal, says Vietnam The Saigon Times Daily The logos of Uber and Grab are seen in this file photo. The Vietnam Competition Council has announced the merger of Grab and Uber fails to form economic concentration - PHOTO: REUTERS HCMC – The Vietnam Competition Council (VCC) has concluded that there are no signs of economic concentration in the merger between ride-hailing firms Grab and Uber after a closed-door meeting held on June 11, the local media reported today, June 19. According to a statement released by the VCC, it has rejected the requests by the agencies concerned to impose sanctions on the acquisition deal, having studied and verified the facts of the case, collected testimonies and discussed the evidence. The acquisition, transfer and takeover between the two enterprises fails to form economic concentration as defined by the Law on Competition and a government decree guiding the execution of the law, the statement … [Read more...] about No economic concentration in Grab-Uber deal, says Vietnam

Vinasun appeals VCC’s conclusion on Grab-Uber merger By Hong Ngoc Vinasun taxis on a street in HCMC. Vinasun has voiced its opposition to the conclusion of the Vietnam Competition Council over the Grab-Uber merger - PHOTO: LE ANH HCMC - HCMC-based taxi operator Vinasun has voiced its opposition to the conclusion of the Vietnam Competition Council (VCC) that the merger between ride-hailing firms Grab and Uber in the country showed no signs of economic concentration. VCC had earlier concluded that the merger did not violate the Competition Law , which is contrary to both Singapore’s and the Philippines’ rulings for the same case. Singapore's competition watchdog in September last year fined Grab and Uber a combined 13 million Singapore dollars (US$9.6 million) for their merger. Meanwhile, they faced a fine of 16 million pesos (US$0.3 million) in the Philippines. These two countries’ competition watchdogs also took steps to supervise and control Grab’s operations, … [Read more...] about Vinasun appeals VCC’s conclusion on Grab-Uber merger

The HCM City People’s Economic Court on Wednesday began hearing the suit filed by taxi operator Vinasun against ride-hailing service Grab, accusing it of unfair business practices and demanding compensation of the VNĐ42 billion (US$1.86 million) worth of losses it has suffered. — Photo vietnamnet.vn HCM CITY — The HCM City People’s Economic Court on Wednesday began hearing the suit filed by taxi operator Vinasun against ride-hailing service Grab, accusing it of unfair business practices and demanding compensation of the VNĐ42 billion (US$1.86 million) worth of losses it has suffered. Once earlier the court had begun the trial but deferred it on Grab’s request. At the trial on Wednesday, Grab once again asked for an adjournment because Cửu Long Company, which had been in charge of assessing the losses suffered by Vinasun, was not represented in court. It claimed defining the losses would be very important and would affect the entire trial. But HCM City People’s Procuracy … [Read more...] about Vinasun’s suit against Grab comes to the court

With more than 26,000 taxis, HCM City’s traffic congestion has worsened in recent years. – VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam News HCM CITY – Stand on just about any sidewalk in downtown HCM City and you can’t fail to see an oncoming stream of taxis, a welcome sight for passengers during rush hour and rainy days, but quite a nuisance for many others. Some local residents and officials say the explosion of taxi services in recent years is contributing to traffic congestion, which has become increasingly worse. As of 2016, there were a total of 11,060 traditional taxis and 15,300 app-based taxis, double the number that city officials had previously targeted. Traffic is often so bad around the city that it’s uncommon for a resident to go for more than a day without struggling to wriggle through crowded streets at any time of the day. Adding to the congestion is the daily flush of vehicles that enter and leave the city from neighbouring provinces. Though the city’s … [Read more...] about Are taxis making HCM City’s traffic worse?

To make sharing economy really fair By Nguyen Quang Binh Soon after the first cars of the ride hailing service Uber started running in Vietnam’s key cities in 2014, this new type of transport quickly reigned supreme - PHOTO: THANH HOA The author of this article believes the sharing economy is the future of global prosperity. Still, it is necessary to pinpoint its shortcomings and remedy them. Soon after the first cars of the ride hailing service Uber started running in Vietnam’s key cities in 2014, this new type of transport quickly reigned supreme. It rallied supporters and faced opponents as well. So far, this business model has developed healthily, attracting both cars and motorcycles offering the services of already well-known brands such as Grab, GoViet, Be and Emddi. It is difficult to know exactly how many members there are in these fleets of “app-based taxis and motorbike taxis.” However, it is absolutely sure that the new business holds a powerful appeal … [Read more...] about To make sharing economy really fair

Taxing cross-border services proves difficult The Saigon Times Daily Residents conduct procedures at the tax office of District 1 in HCMC. The tax department is finding it difficult to collect taxes from individuals receiving payments from tech giants such as Google and Facebook – PHOTO: TNO HCMC – Tax authorities are still struggling to find ways to tax cross-border trading services, said Nguyen Nam Binh, deputy head of the HCMC Tax Department, at a workshop on May 6. Held by a group of National Assembly delegates in HCMC, the workshop was aimed at canvassing the opinions of agencies on revisions to the draft Law on Tax Administration, reported Thanh Nien newspaper. Binh said that tax authorities are keen on ecommerce applications, especially cross-border transactions. Ride-hailing services such as Grab and Uber as well as online hotel booking services such as Agoda.com and Booking.com are becoming more popular, compared with four to five years ago. However, … [Read more...] about Taxing cross-border services proves difficult

Nghệ An Province’s police chief Nguyễn Hữu Cầu. — Photo courtesy of the National Assembly Viet Nam News HÀ NỘI — Groundless accusations and lack of manpower to look into them were among reasons lawmakers cited against allegations made via phone calls or emails during the morning session of the 14th National Assembly’s fifth meeting in Hà Nội on May 24. NA deputies debated pros and cons of a proposal to accept such allegations in addition to traditional ways (in which citizens must either send them to Government agencies in written forms or present them in person) in the draft law on denunciation. “We must think about whether we can commit a significant amount of manpower to investigate a phone call or an email,” said deputy Trần Văn Mão. He said the number of valid accusations only amounted to nearly 20 per cent based on statistics collected during the last two years with traditional methods. Deputy Võ Đình Tín said that while allowing allegations to be made via phone … [Read more...] about No effort is too much in anti-corruption fight

An overturned light truck on the approach to Bình Triệu Bridge in HCM City’s Thủ Đức District. — VNA/VNS Photo Mạnh Linh Viet Nam News HCM CITY — The chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Nguyễn Thành Phong instructed the municipal Department of Transport and relevant authorities to make studies for banning all light trucks during the day time in an effort to ease traffic congestion. “This is a necessary solution because traffic congestion is happening throughout the day, not only during peak hours, especially at the city’s enterences, major roads, Tân Sơn Nhất Airport and Cát Lái Port,”  Phong said at a Friday meeting to review traffic and safety for the first six months of this year. “Relevant authorities must continue to properly guide traffic routes, install more traffic lights, and arrange traffic police to ease traffic congestion,” he added. Phong also asked authorities to speed up projects to collect car parking fees, to set up walking streets in downtown and … [Read more...] about HCMC to ban light trucks in daytime