KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 21): The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) has approved 11 applications for e-hailing services, which is expected to promote competition in the e-hailing market and provide consumers with better choices, according to the Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC).

MyCC announced this in a statement today, stating this was one of the key highlights of a recently-concluded meeting of the Special Committee on Competition, which MyCC spearheads. 

The committee comprises various regulators, including SPAD, the Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the Energy Commission (EC), the National Water Services Commission (SPAN), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), Malaysian Aviation Commission (MAVCOM) and the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO).

Current e-hailing applications available in the market include Grab, Mula, EzCab, Dacsee and Mycar.

During the meeting, the regulators' representatives also discussed issues relating to competition law and policy to ensure consistency in the application of the law between sector regulators, besides issues on cross-jurisdictional matters, MyCC said.

“It is important for us, the sector regulators, to meet and discuss any anti-competition issues that may arise between regulators. There is a need for coherence between competition policies and regulatory policies to enhance consumer welfare and economic efficiency. Some complaints received by MyCC are beyond our jurisdiction and therefore need to be redirected to the relevant regulators,” said Chairman of the MyCC, Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus, in the statement.

Meanwhile, Mohd Hishamudin said MyCC is planning to invite the EC, MAVCOM and MCMC to collaborate on advocacy activities, in order to enlighten the public on the respective regulators’ jurisdiction.

MyCC also updated that it has started the process of amending its laws, which will include introducing new provisions on mergers and acquisitions, and is targeting to gather views from SC, MAVCOM, MCMC and Bursa Malaysia.