PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Competition Commission (MyCC) has praised the government's recent moves to address the monopoly of Touch 'n Go in the tolls and public transportation system.
In a statement on Tuesday (March 21), MyCC said that this would create a competitive market that would ultimately benefit the public.
Below is their statement in full.
MyCC applauds the recent commitment by YAB Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to urgently look into the monopoly of Touch 'n Go in the payment system for tolls and public transportation including reconsidering possible alternatives to stimulate the competition in the said market.
MyCC also notes the initiatives taken by the Works Ministry and Transport Ministry that are in motion such as the introduction of the Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF) which will allow users to pay tolls using other payment methods and the plan to develop more payment options for public transportation. These moves are expected to end the monopoly of Touch ‘n Go in the relevant markets in line with the demand made by the public.
In order to ensure concrete development in this area, MyCC through the task force set up by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living will continue to monitor the progress and behaviour of the incumbent in order to guarantee seamless entry of new players into these markets.
“MyCC has investigated a few monopolies before this, whereby one of them was found to have made an attempt to increase the cost of new entry by making an exclusivity agreement with its downstream players. As a result, the aspiration of the Government to inject competition into that market could not be fulfilled. Similarly, we will adopt the same approach in monitoring the development to instil competition in the payment of highway toll market and public transportation, so that we can have viable alternatives and strong competitor(s) that can compete effectively in the market for the benefit of the users”, emphasised MyCC CEO Iskandar Ismail.
