Uber to extend PHL operations until April 15

Grab Philippines on Monday said it is willing to shoulder the expenses for Uber to continue operating in the country beyond April 8, although only until April 15.

"Considering that Uber has exited the region on 25 March and clearly stated during the public hearing its incapacity to fund the operations in the Philippines, the parties have agreed to keep the Uber app operational with Grab bearing the costs, to give drivers and consumers time to adjust to Uber's departure," Grab said in a statement.

"In the spirit of cooperating with the PCC, Grab has also agreed to continue to bear the costs of the Uber app extension (from March 25 to April 8) until April 15, 2018," it added.

This comes after the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), the country's competition watchdog, made formal its order for both Grab and uber to maintain independent operations while it conducts a motu proprio review on the acquisition deal.

Uber earlier announced that its operations would only be available in the Philippine market until Sunday, April 8, and would cease the following day.

The PCC earlier, however, said that Uber must continue its operations while the antitrust watchdog does its motu proprio review on the matter which could take a total of 195 days — 75 days for the phase 1, and 120 days for the phase 2.

According to Grab, the extension until April 15 would not be contrary to the interim measures.

"Our understanding from the PCC is that this interim arrangement, which was fully explained to the PCC, is not a breach of its Order," it said.

"Grab wishes to clarify that, although the Uber app continues to operate, it has limited functionality and little or no support," it added.

Uber last week said it could no longer continue operations in the Philippines beyond April 8 as it does not have the financial capacity to do so.

"Uber has exited eight markets in Southeast Asia as of last Monday... We no longer have people in these markets. We no longer have any funding in these markets," Uber Asia Pacific business head Brooks Entwistle said last week. —Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/KBK, GMA News