Franchise Comprehensive Support Center to Assist in Resolving Disputes Between Startups, Headquarters, and Franchisees

Fair Trade Commission Establishes and Implements Notification on Designation and Entrustment of Franchise Comprehensive Support Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission announced that it has finalized and will implement from the 11th the draft of the "Notice on the Designation and Entrustment of Franchise Comprehensive Support Centers," which stipulates the duties and designation procedures of franchise comprehensive support centers that will closely support small-scale franchisors and franchisees struggling due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the Franchise Business Act (Article 31-2), the Fair Trade Commission can entrust designated institutions with tasks necessary to establish order in franchise transactions, and the detailed procedures can be prescribed by notice. Accordingly, through this notice, the contents of the tasks to be entrusted to the support centers and the procedures for designating the support centers have been prepared.

The main duties of the support centers are to provide continuous comprehensive support so that policy stakeholders such as franchisors, franchisees, prospective franchisees, and franchise transaction agents can better understand the purposes and contents of laws and policies and quickly resolve difficulties, conflicts, and disputes experienced in the field. Specifically, these include ▲ reasonable startup support for franchisees (and prospective franchisees) and various education and counseling to create stable business conditions ▲ mediation of disputes and conflicts such as negotiations between franchisors and franchisee organizations ▲ promotion of autonomous win-win cooperation between franchisors and franchisees ▲ legal assistance such as litigation support for damaged franchisees ▲ education and counseling on laws and policies to prevent violations and recurrence by small-scale franchisors, etc.

The support centers are designated by the Fair Trade Commission Chairman after reviewing materials submitted by institutions or organizations applying for task entrustment, including facilities, personnel, education performance, work plans, and budgets necessary for entrustment review.

A Fair Trade Commission official said, "With the establishment of this notice, it will be possible to designate franchise comprehensive support centers that provide close, comprehensive support to those working in the franchise sector in the field, enabling faster and more efficient resolution of increasingly deepening difficulties and conflicts. The Fair Trade Commission plans to promptly proceed with follow-up procedures such as the designation of franchise comprehensive support centers to fully support the efforts of franchisees and franchisors to overcome crises."

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