7 Mobility Platform Companies Urge National Assembly to Pass Tada Ban Law

"Companies That Prepared Businesses Trusting Government Policies Will Face Life-or-Death Crossroads"
Meanwhile, Tada Side Including CEO Lee Jae-woong Voices Criticism of the Amendment

Van for the vehicle call service 'Tada' operating in Seoul city. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-gyu Lee] Mobility platform companies, including Kakao Mobility, have urged the National Assembly to pass the amendment to the Passenger Transport Service Act, commonly known as the 'Tada Ban Act.' These companies claim, "If the amendment is not passed, mobility companies that have prepared their businesses trusting government policies will be pushed to the brink of survival."

On the 27th, seven companies including Kakao Mobility, KST Mobility, and Buxi issued a statement saying, "The amendment is currently pending in the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee, but its passage is very uncertain," and added, "If the National Assembly delays the amendment until the end of the 20th National Assembly session and discards the bill, it would be a dereliction of duty by the National Assembly, betraying the expectations of mobility companies and users who trust government policies and expect the bill to pass."

These companies also stated, "The amendment was difficult to prepare after dozens of meetings and debates involving taxi and mobility industries, civic groups, and mobility experts," and lamented, "In fact, the mobility industry has found it difficult to launch various innovative services due to the framework of outdated regulations."

Furthermore, they said, "This amendment was prepared through mutual concessions at the same table between taxi organizations and the mobility industry, providing a foundation for resolving conflicts between existing industries and mobility and fostering coexistence," and warned, "If the law is not passed in this 20th National Assembly, the hard-won foundation for coexistence will collapse, and the conflicts that have continued for years will intensify."

They added, "In such an environment, mobility companies cannot grow on a stable foundation, improvements in taxi quality and technological integration will be delayed, and the damage will inevitably lead to inconvenience for the public."

Moreover, they stated, "If the amendment is not passed, mobility companies that have prepared their businesses trusting government policies will be pushed to the brink of survival," and explained, "Mobility companies have already invested and launched services trusting government policies, but if the law is not passed this time, these companies will face investment freezes and risk closure."

In particular, they emphasized, "There are voices dismissing the amendment as anti-innovation legislation and labeling it as a specific service ban law, portraying it as regulatory legislation," and stressed, "The amendment is a coexistence legislation mutually conceded by mobility platform companies and the taxi industry, removing ambiguities in the existing system and serving as a stepping stone for mobility companies to leap forward."

On the other hand, Tada representatives, including SoCar CEO Lee Jae-woong, have raised critical voices against the amendment. Recently, CEO Lee criticized on his Facebook, "If the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the ruling party pass the so-called Park Hong-geun law, the Tada Ban Act, Tada will have to close immediately after division regardless of the court's acquittal," and questioned, "What on earth is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of this government, which claims innovation growth and job creation are important, thinking?"

The amendment proposed by Park Hong-geun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, in October last year stipulates that when renting a van with 11 to 15 seats, driver dispatch is only allowed if rented for tourism purposes for six hours or more or if the return location is an airport or port. If the amendment passes the plenary session, the current 11-seat van call service 'Tada Basic' will no longer be able to operate domestically. CEO Lee argued, "If this law passes, Tada will have to close."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.