Singapore recently announced that it is investigating the sale of US ride hailing giant Uber's Southeast Asia business to Grab over concerns that it may impact competition in the city-state.

Illustrative image (Source: Bangkok Post)

The Competition Commission of Singapore, a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has issued "proposed interim measures directions" to the two companies ordering them not to take any action that may lead to the integration of their businesses in Singapore while the investigation continues.

The commission said in a statement that it is also ordering them to maintain their pricing policies and product options before the deal took place and not to share any confidential information pertaining to pricing with each other.

It added that the deal infringes Section 54 of the Competition Act due to substantial lessening of competition.

As part of the deal, Uber will take a 27.5% stake in Grab, marking its second exit in Asia.

The car pooling service is expected to expand five-fold to 13.1 billion USD by 2025.

Though present in more than 600 cities worldwide, Uber still faces challenges when facing scandals and protests from traditional taxi firms in both Asia and Europe.

(Source: VNA)