Tesla Compensation Expansion... "Renault, Benz, and Others Also Receive Corrective Recommendations for Similar Cases" (Comprehensive)

Fair Trade Commission "If There Are Provisions Similar to Tesla, Correction Recommended According to the Act on Terms and Conditions"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it has expanded the scope of compensation that Tesla must provide, which previously only compensated for an order fee of 100,000 KRW, and stated that it can request corrections if similar issues are found in other companies such as Renault Zoe.

Lee Taehwi, head of the FTC's Terms and Conditions Review Division, said this during a briefing on the 'Tesla Unfair Terms Correction' held at the Government Complex Sejong on the 18th.

On this day, the FTC announced that as the domestic sales volume of Tesla's affordable 'Model 3' increased, it has regulated Tesla to correct unfair terms and conditions.

Source=Korea Fair Trade Commission

The key point is that Tesla was induced to correct its terms so that it cannot exempt itself from all indirect and special damages as a business operator and limit the compensation scope to the order fee of 100,000 KRW.

In other sales contracts such as real estate, it is common to set the compensation at 10% of the total, but Tesla was judged to have compensated too little.

The FTC viewed Tesla's previous practice as unfair because it violated the general principles that "compensation should be within the scope of damages that can generally occur" and "the business operator is responsible for compensation if aware of the occurrence of special damages."

From now on, if damages occur due to Tesla's intentional or negligent acts, Tesla will be held responsible. Tesla will also be responsible if it is aware of the consumer's special damages.

Here, indirect and special damages refer to incidents that may occur during the vehicle sales and delivery process. There are no specific court precedents related to Tesla's compensation yet.

An FTC official explained, "A typical example of indirect or secondary damages is a Supreme Court precedent where if a driver hits a utility pole causing a neighboring factory to shut down, and the driver was aware of this, they must compensate for the damages."

Source=Korea Fair Trade Commission

The clause that shifted all damages occurring after the vehicle delivery period to the customer was also corrected. Tesla's exemption clause from delivery obligations was removed. Under the FTC's regulation, Tesla voluntarily corrected and has been implementing the related terms since the 14th.

Additionally, Tesla plans to introduce contactless consignment delivery not only at existing delivery locations but also at locations requested by customers.

An FTC official said, "When consignment delivery was done, all risks and damages at the time the customer's electric vehicle was loaded were shifted to the customer, but we received reports about this and corrected it," adding, "According to the standard terms, 'the customer bears the delivery cost, but the manufacturer and seller are fully responsible for delivery to the location requested by the customer,' so Tesla was made responsible for consignment delivery."

Lee Taehwi, head of the FTC's Terms and Conditions Review Division, expressed hope, saying, "By making Tesla responsible for damages that may occur after the delivery period, it will contribute to enhancing customer rights."

In addition, Tesla's reasons for canceling customer orders were specifically stipulated (such as sales for purposes other than final consumption), and contracts can be transferred to affiliates considering not only Tesla's discretion but also the Civil Act and Personal Information Protection Act. Also, instead of only the Seoul Central District Court having jurisdiction over all disputes, the jurisdiction will be determined according to the Civil Procedure Act.

Meanwhile, the FTC stated that it can also recommend corrections if other companies such as Renault Zoe, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz implement unfair terms similar to Tesla's.

Lee said, "There is currently no special plan to correct other business operators' terms, but if there are clauses similar to Tesla's, we can certainly recommend corrections according to the Terms and Conditions Act."

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