"'Request to Regulate OTTs for 'Paid Conversion Without Notice''"

Fair Trade Commission Hosts 'Consumer Policy Idea Contest' for 40th Anniversary of Consumer Basic Act
"Request to Regulate Subscription Economy OTT Marketing and Establish Shared Economy Dispute Resolution Standards"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok]

"Please regulate the tactics where businesses notify consumers of the transition before the free trial period ends and the service becomes paid, making it easy to subscribe but difficult to unsubscribe."

"Please adjust the dispute resolution standards, which currently focus on goods rental services, to better reflect the expanding sharing economy sectors such as space rental, daily necessities, and transportation."

These were two award-winning ideas among 76 submissions received in the Consumer Policy Idea Contest held by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Framework Act on Consumers. The FTC announced the final results of the contest, which was open to consumers from January 6 to February 6, on the 14th.

There was an outpouring of public proposals related to digital transaction fields such as the sharing economy, subscription economy, online transactions, SNS advertising, and platform operators. Changes in consumer behavior and channels were major public interests. The FTC selected a total of five ideas?two winning prizes and three encouragement prizes?based on effectiveness and creativity during the first and second rounds of judging. Participants who proposed these ideas received commendations from the FTC Chairman and a monetary award.

While the two winning ideas were related to the subscription economy and sharing economy, the three encouragement prizes included proposals for supporting vulnerable groups’ consumer activities and preventing damage, as well as a notification obligation when the parent company of a funeral service company changes.

Among the encouragement prize ideas, notable ones included ▲developing a mobile application to help visually impaired people distinguish products with similar packaging or appearance ▲requiring a proxy’s signature on the contract when those aged 65 or older subscribe to funeral services ▲notifying individual subscribers about major shareholder changes in funeral service companies.

Jeon Seongbok, Director of Consumer Policy at the FTC, said, "The FTC will carefully review and utilize the policy proposals from this contest as valuable reference materials. Taking this contest commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Framework Act on Consumers as an opportunity, we plan to expand areas for more direct communication with consumers and proactively and continuously respond to changes in consumer behavior."

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