Federal Court stays judicial review application against MyCC

20 April 2022

On 9 February 2022, the Federal Court granted an interim stay to MyCC to halt the hearing of a judicial review application in the High Court filed by Grab Holdings Inc., GrabCar Sdn. Bhd. and MyTeksi Sdn. Bhd. (collectively, “Grab”) pending the disposal of MyCC’s leave application before the Federal Court. The judicial review application was filed against a proposed RM86.77 million fine imposed by MyCC on Grab for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Further, the leave application before the Federal Court was also adjourned pending the Court of Appeal’s grounds of judgment. The decision was made by a three-member bench chaired by the Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Rohana Yusuf.

MyCC sought leave to appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal on 19 April 2021 which had overturned the decision of the High Court. In October 2019, MyCC had found that Grab had abused its dominant position in the ride-hailing services market by imposing a restrictive clause on its drivers, effectively preventing drivers from promoting Grab’s current and potential competitors on e-hailing platforms and in transit media advertising. Grab then filed for judicial review of that proposed decision before the High Court. The High Court dismissed the application and held that the judicial review application was premature given that the “proposed decision” did not constitute a final ruling for judicial review. The Court of Appeal subsequently took a different view from the High Court and held that there were merits in Grab’s appeal based on the evidence presented and there was an arguable case in the substantive stage.

With the hearing on Grab’s judicial review application in the High Court temporarily paused, the High Court will not hear the matter until the application for MyCC’s leave to appeal to the Federal Court is disposed of. The matter has been pending before the courts since 2019.

The full judgment has yet to be made public.