Uber app available until April 15

MANILA, Philippines — The Uber app will be available until April 15 although with limited functionality and support, following the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)’s order for the ride-share app to continue to operate while a review of Uber’s merger with Grab is being undertaken.

In a statement yesterday, Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said the Uber app would remain operational, with Grab bearing the costs as Uber has exited the Southeast Asian region last month.

“In the spirit of cooperating with the PCC, Grab has also agreed to continue to bear the costs of the Uber app extension until April 15, 2018. Our understanding from the PCC is that this interim arrangement, which was fully explained to the PCC, is not a breach of its order,” he said.

Last Saturday, the PCC said Uber should continue to operate until the agency completes the review of Uber’s merger with Grab.

Uber said earlier it would move services to the Grab platform by April 8.

While Grab respects the interim measures from PCC which require the ride-share apps to maintain independent business operations, Cu said such would mean an increase in the transaction costs of the parties and be against the spirit and rationale of interim measures.

“Grab intends to discuss this matter with the PCC,” he added.

Even as Uber would be operational until April 15, the app would have limited functionality with little or no support.