HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The Ho Chi MinhCity People’s Economic Court has once again adjourned the suit filed by taxioperator Vinasun against ride-hailing service Grab, which accuses it of unfairbusiness practices and demands compensation.

The court said on October 29 that the trial wouldresume on November 22 after more evidence is collected.

“Cuu Long company, which assessed the lossessuffered by Vinasun, was not represented in court and many details need to beclarified.”

It explained that defining the losses would bevery important and affect the entire trial.

Vinasun, once a dominant player in the southerntaxi market, has seen its market share gradually taken away by Uber and Grabsince 2016. Some 2,700 of its taxis are idle because of unfair competition, ithas claimed.

Grab, which recently acquired Uber in Vietnam,continues to grow in popularity, especially since the number of smartphoneusers in the country is rising.

Vinasun claimed the “illegal” operations of Grabin Vietnam were to blame for a fall in its revenues by 41.2 billion VND (1.75million USD) in 2016 and 2017.

A Vinasun spokesperson said his company hadbased its complaint on the Trade Law and Government’s Decree 37 issued in 2006,which clearly states that the duration of total promotions in a year must notexceed 90 days and each promotion programme should not last beyond 40 days.

Exploiting the lack of clear regulations forsoftware-based transport services, Grab offered “rampant” promotion dealsand discounts, including “zero fee” trips, which was similar to dumping ofmanufactured goods, he said.

According to a survey done by market researchcompany Quoc Viet, 74 percent of Vinasun customers have already moved to Grabdue to low fares and frequent promotions.

Vinasun said while it needs to comply with 13regulations, Grab has to follow only three, creating unfair competition.

According to a report from the Ministry ofFinance, in the 2014-2017 period, Grab announced losses of more than 1.7trillion VND (74 million USD) while its registered capital was only 20 billion VND(870,000 USD).

The HCM City People’s Procuracy said there isenough evidence to prove that Grab is a taxi company, and it has violatedmultiple transport regulations and the Enterprise Law.

Jerry Lim, Grab’s CEO in Vietnam, said theprocuracy had no business putting a label to company. Earlier, he had writtento Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

There was a large crowd of drivers from Vinasunand Mai Linh, another well-known taxi company, outside the court on Monday,anxious to know the outcome of the suit.

The public has wondered, in the event Grab ispenalised, what would happen to other online businesses like Airbnb in Vietnam.

This was the third adjournment since the lawsuitwas first heard last February.-VNS/VNA