"Is the 1577 Substitute Driving Call Disappearing? The Heated Mobility Three-Way Battle"

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The designated driver industry, long dominated by phone call companies such as '1577 Daeriunjeon,' has become a battleground for ICT companies. Since the early 2000s, the market has continued to operate through traditional phone methods, but with mobility companies like Kakao, Tada, and SK Telecom's T map Mobility entering one after another, winds of change are blowing. Industry attention is focused on whether the designated driver industry will be reorganized like the taxi industry, which has been transformed by the 'app call' culture.

Mobility Three-Way Battle

According to Kakao Mobility on the 3rd, the designated driver brokerage service 'KakaoT Daeri' currently has as many as 150,000 driver members. The membership size, which was 50,000 at the time of its launch in 2016, has tripled in four years. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the usage rate of control programs by designated drivers this year also reaches 90.7% for 'KakaoT Daeri.' A control program is designed to enable the collection, storage, and communication of designated driver information. As latecomers such as Tada entered the market, KakaoT Daeri recently segmented its fare plans into 'Economy,' 'Standard,' and 'Premium.' Economy is a service that lowers the fare in exchange for accepting long waiting times, while 'Premium' is a high-end service that provides drivers dressed in suits.

VCNC's 'Tada Daeri,' launched last October, is also showing considerable growth. A VCNC official explained, "The pre-recruitment of 1,000 Tada Daeri drivers was completed in two weeks." As a latecomer, Tada Daeri emphasizes commission competitiveness. The industry average commission of 20% per call was lowered to an industry-low 15%. Additionally, to improve service quality, an incentive system was introduced for designated drivers. For rides that receive a passenger rating of 5 points, 5% of the fare amount is returned to the driver. The DNA of 'Tada,' where users can specify no smoking, steady driving, route designation, and quiet rides before the trip, has also been applied to the designated driver service.

T map Mobility, which is spinning off from SK Telecom, also announced plans to enter the designated driver market next year. T map Mobility, launching at the end of this month, is preparing an integrated mobility service app similar to KakaoT. An SK Telecom official stated, "In the long term, we are planning to integrate T map and T map Taxi and add various services such as designated driving." When the designated driver service is launched, the market impact is expected to be significant based on T map's influence, which has 13.23 million monthly active users (MAU).

Will Phone Call Companies Survive?

The reason mobility companies have entered the designated driver market is that there are fewer government regulations and stable revenue generation is possible. Unlike the taxi industry, which is heavily regulated with license quotas and fare systems, the designated driver business has no legally fixed fares and no qualification requirements such as registration or reporting obligations for drivers.

Currently, designated driver brokerage companies receive commissions of 20-30% per call from designated drivers. KakaoT Daeri's commission is also 20%. An industry insider said, "The designated driver business has low entry barriers and is a cash cow," adding, "Kakao Mobility is also known to have the designated driver business play a significant role in its profits."

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Designated Driver Status Survey Policy Research' report, the designated driver market size is expected to reach 2.7672 trillion won this year. The number of designated drivers nationwide reaches 164,600.

Experts predict that mobility companies will seek to acquire designated driver call companies to dominate the market in the future. Cha Doowon, head of Cha Doowon Mobility Research Institute, said, "While Kakao Mobility is trying to maintain a monopoly position, VCNC and T map Mobility are building portfolios, leading to a clash across the mobility sector," adding, "As competition intensifies, mobility companies will also become interested in acquiring phone call companies."

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