In Vietnam, regional ride-hailing company Grab and local taxi operator Vinasun are heading to court yet again, opening a new chapter in their continuing litigation that began in June 2017.
Here’s how the case has developed: Vinasun sued Grab for US$1.8 million, claiming that the latter had abused a governmental programme to operate in Vietnam and ate into the taxi operator’s profits. After a failed round of arbitration, the court ruled that Grab had to pay Vinasun VND 4.8 billion (US$208,700) in damages, but neither company was happy with the outcome. Then, the country’s chief prosecutor called the verdict “baseless” and identified other factors that might have led to Visnasun’s loss in revenue, including the country’s regulatory landscape, market conditions, competition dynamics, and passengers’ evolving demands in Vietnam.
Grab is now taking Vinasun to the appeals court. Hearings are scheduled to begin in March.
Other ride-hailing service providers operate in Vietnam too, including a Go-Jek subsidiary called Go-Viet, as well as homegrown startups Fastgo, Aber, and Vato.
Editor: Brady Ng