Seoul City to Enforce Mandatory Passenger List for 'Short-Term Charter Buses' Starting from the 3rd (Update)

Electronic Entry Log or Manual Log Entry ... Fine up to 3 Million KRW for Violations

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As a measure to elevate 'social distancing' to level 2 and to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), charter bus companies in Seoul must mandatorily prepare passenger lists for 'short-term charter buses' used for tourism, rallies, and other purposes.

On the 1st, Seoul City announced that starting from the 3rd, it will issue an administrative order requiring the introduction of an electronic entry log (KI-PASS) and mandatory preparation and management of passenger lists for short-term contract charter buses, which are difficult to identify passengers for, such as those registered in Seoul or operating within the city for tourism, rallies, and one-time events.

Regularly operating charter buses such as commuter, school, and academy buses are excluded, and all short-term contract charter buses used for tourism, rallies, and one-time events where passenger identification is difficult are subject to this order.

Seoul City noted that around the Liberation Day holiday last month, many charter buses were used for rallies in Gwanghwamun and churches, but rapid and accurate identification of passengers was difficult, exposing issues in quarantine measures. Therefore, to block the spread of COVID-19 infection and thoroughly enforce personal and community quarantine, it decided to mandate the preparation of passenger lists for charter buses.

Accordingly, charter bus operators must mandatorily prepare and manage passenger lists through electronic entry logs or handwritten logs, and charter bus users must cooperate with the operators in preparing the passenger lists. Additionally, if handwritten logs are kept and managed, operators must verify the identity of the person filling out the log by checking their ID card.

This administrative order was issued based on Article 49, Paragraph 1 of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act, and takes effect from 0:00 on September 3, the date of the Seoul City public announcement, applying until the social distancing level 2 is lifted. Violators of the administrative order may be prosecuted under Article 80 of the same law and fined up to 3 million KRW. Furthermore, claims for compensation may be made for all quarantine costs related to testing, investigation, and treatment arising from violations of the administrative order.

No Byeong-chun, Director of the Bus Policy Division of Seoul City, said, "If confirmed cases occur among those participating in protests, rallies, tourism, or group events using charter buses, it will be difficult to secure personal information, which may hinder community quarantine responses. Since charter buses are enclosed, confined spaces used jointly by many people for extended periods, the risk of transmission is high. Therefore, we ask both operators and users to actively cooperate in complying with the administrative order."

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