Government panel suspends Grab-Move It partnership

MANILA, Philippines — The government’s inter-agency motorcycle taxi technical working group (TWG) has suspended the partnership between motorcycle taxi company Move It and Grab Philippines.

The Move It with Grab service, which commenced last Thursday, was ordered to stop yesterday, subject to further study of the TWG and submission of relevant documents.

Grab Philippines said it “is committed to empowering local businesses, and our partnership with Move It is consistent with our ongoing efforts to help everyday entrepreneurs thrive and succeed. The partnership will also enable Grab to offer Move It’s safe, reliable, and affordable motorcycle taxi service to our consumers.”

In a statement, Move It said the suspension “was orchestrated by a number of stakeholders in the motorbike taxi pilot against Move It – the smallest player in the pilot.”

Move It is one of three motorcycle ride-hailing firms allowed by the government to operate in its pilot study for motorcycle taxis. The other two are Angkas and JoyRide.

Grab and Move It last week announced a partnership to enable the booking of riders through the Move It tile on the Grab app.

Over the weekend, Lawyers for Commuters’ Safety and Protection issued a statement denouncing the backdoor entry of Grab Philippines through its partnership with Move It in the motorcycle taxi pilot study.

Valerio said the backdoor entry of Grab through the help of Move It is tantamount to anti-competition practice as Grab hopes to dominate the transport market, which is disadvantageous to Filipino-owned companies.