11 Contactless Service Platforms Halted... 7 Supply Companies Disqualified

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Conducts Comprehensive Inspection of 1,235 Registered Services
"Relentless Pursuit of Unfair Practices Such as Rebates and Bundled Sales"
"Plan to Complete Selection of New Supply Companies by Mid-Month"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] The government has suspended the sale of 11 inappropriate services and canceled the selection of 7 supply companies through a comprehensive inspection of services registered under the ‘Non-face-to-face Service Voucher’ project.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 9th that it conducted an inspection on 1,235 services (as of October 19) registered on the online marketplace ‘K-Non-face-to-face Voucher Platform’ to determine whether they align with the project’s purpose (promoting remote and telecommuting for SMEs, encouraging digitalization, and fostering non-face-to-face service providers), and made the decision accordingly.

After the comprehensive inspection, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, through an in-depth investigation by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), reviewed 82 services deemed to require assessment of appropriateness. The process included ▲external expert review, ▲company objection review based on the review results, ▲and finally, a face-to-face explanation session attended by representatives of the respective companies. Subsequently, on the 8th of this month, 11 services were finalized as inappropriate, 35 as conditionally appropriate, and 36 as appropriate.

The criteria for judging inappropriate services by the project operation committee include ▲cases where the main purpose is providing equipment such as unmanned order payment machines (kiosks) or fever checkers, ▲health analysis or insurance-related information services unrelated to remote or telecommuting, ▲financial technology or hobby education such as real estate and stocks that are far from job training for SME employees, and ▲simple consulting unrelated to the introduction of non-face-to-face systems or domestic and international landmark introductions.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups determined that 11 services, including unmanned order payment provision and domestic and international landmark quiz content, were inappropriate and ordered the suspension of their sales. Seven companies that supplied only one service field had their selection as supply companies canceled. Four companies selected as suppliers in two or more service fields were instructed to supply only the service fields without issues.

Kim Juhwa, Director of the Non-face-to-face Economy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, stated, “We have conducted a comprehensive inspection and taken measures against inappropriate services that do not meet the project’s objectives. Going forward, we plan to fully operate a system for continuous exclusion and new entry based on market and consumer evaluations.” He added, “We will form and operate a ‘National Monitoring Group’ of about 100 people, including university (graduate) students majoring in relevant fields, company employees, and related experts, to review the non-face-to-face services from the consumer’s perspective. Additionally, we plan to conduct in-depth analysis of service prices and quality through professional market research institutions.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups is selecting additional supply companies to create a virtuous cycle system through continuous exclusion and entry. After expert evaluations and consumer experience assessments, the selection of new supply companies is expected to be completed around mid-month.

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