The Power of Small and Medium-Sized Business Voices... Building Win-Win Delivery Platforms

Operation of Delivery Platform Win-Win Council
Enactment of Online Platform Fairness Act

Headquarters of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] "Advertising costs are excessive. They are abusing their bargaining position."

These are the voices of delivery application franchise owners. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Federation of SMEs in June last year targeting 506 delivery app franchises, 37.0% cited "excessive advertising costs" when asked about experiences of unfair practices. Opinions also pointed out "tying sales" (28.8%), "exclusive dealing practices" (21.9%), and "abuse of bargaining position" (21.9%).

Since then, the Korea Federation of SMEs has co-hosted policy forums such as the "Policy Discussion for Creating a Fair Trade Environment in the Online Market" at the National Assembly, seeking reasonable measures to induce fair trade by online platform operators and improve unfair business transactions in the online market. They have also conducted institutional improvement research for fair transactions between online platform operators and small and medium-sized merchants.

Kim Gi-moon, chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, urged, "The government and the National Assembly should take interest and provide institutional supplements so that small and medium-sized merchants do not suffer from excessive cost burdens and unreasonable business practices caused by online platform operators."

On the 31st of last month, the ruling party, government, and the presidential office decided to enact a tentative "Online Platform Fairness Act" in the first half of next year. The purpose is to increase transparency and fairness in the transaction relationship between online platforms and tenant businesses. To this end, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to conduct an "Online Platform Transaction Survey" by October this year and push for amendments to the Win-Win Cooperation Act by the first half of next year to institutionally support win-win cooperation.

To resolve various issues such as commissions, advertising fees, and information monopolies in the delivery app market, a "Delivery Platform Win-Win Council" involving the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, major platform operators, and small business organizations will be launched starting September this year.

Voices demanding institutional improvements have continued due to conflicts between online platform operators and small and medium-sized merchants. Experts have emphasized the need for regulations in the online market for small and medium-sized merchants under the powerful control of dominant online platforms, as well as voluntary win-win cooperation between online platform operators and small and medium-sized merchants.

A representative from the Korea Federation of SMEs said, "We must continuously seek reasonable measures to promote fair trade in the online market and develop a balanced ecosystem."

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