Cabcharge Australia Ltd - proposed acquisition of Arrow Taxi Services Ltd
Summary
Cabcharge Australia Ltd (Cabcharge) principally supplies the Cabcharge account facility for the payment of taxi fares. In Melbourne, Cabcharge also owns Black Cabs Combined (BCC) which, among other things, operates a taxi depot for its members, who operate in the Melbourne metropolitan taxi-cab zone (as defined by government regulation). BCC also supplies automated taxi booking and dispatch network services.
Arrow Taxi Services Ltd (Arrow) operates a taxi depot and provides administrative services to its members, who also operate principally in the Melbourne metropolitan zone. Arrow currently outsources its taxi booking and dispatch services to BCC.
File number
C2006/337
Industry
Taxi services
Outcome
Not Opposed
Date completed
21st March 2006
Market definition
The ACCC considered the impact of the proposed acquisition on the markets for:
- the provision of taxi depot services to taxi operators in the Melbourne metropolitan taxi-cab zone; and
- the provision of taxi services to the public in the Melbourne metropolitan taxi-cab zone.
Competition analysis
The ACCC concluded that the proposed acquisition was unlikely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in either market given that it involves only a small increase in market concentration. Accordingly, the ACCC decided not to intervene.
