Yeongnam Hub 'Top Mart' Caught for Unfair Returns... Fair Trade Commission Imposes 635 Million Won Fine
[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 16th that it has decided to impose a corrective order and a fine of 635 million KRW on Top Mart (Seowon Distribution), which operates daily necessities retail business based in the Yeongnam region, for violating the Large-scale Distribution Business Act.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, Seowon Distribution unjustly returned approximately 4.7 billion KRW worth of direct purchase products supplied by 30 suppliers from May 2017 to May 2018.
In direct purchase transactions, large-scale distributors purchase products directly from suppliers, and the distributor must bear the inventory risk for products not sold to consumers. However, Seowon Distribution made agreements with multiple suppliers allowing comprehensive returns without restrictions on return periods, target products, or return locations, and frequently returned products based on these agreements.
Additionally, from December 2015 to May 2018, Seowon Distribution unjustly deducted about 170 million KRW monthly from payment for products directly purchased from five suppliers under the name of basic incentives. Basic incentives are a form of sales promotion funds received as a certain percentage or fixed amount of the product purchase price, which have very low relevance to sales promotion purposes and are not permitted by law.
Hot Picks Today
No Bacteria Detected in Arisu After 24 Hours of Repeated Drinking from a Tumbler
- "We Can't Just Let Them Be Damaged Inside"... Samsung Electronics Removes 360,000 Wafers in Preparation for Strike
- "Up to 100 Trillion Won in Losses Feared, It's Not About Second Place but Catastrophe"... Industry Minister: 'Emergency Mediation Unavoidable If Samsung Strike Occurs'
- Wife in $6.7 Million Debt Took Out $3 Million in Husband's Life Insurance, Poisoned Him... US Court: "She Can Never Be Released"
- "He's Handsome, It's Such a Pity?"... Lawyer Responds to Bizarre 'Appearance Evaluation' of High School Girl Murder Suspect
A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "It is meaningful in that we reaffirmed that even regional distributors like Seowon Distribution have a superior bargaining position over nationally recognized suppliers and thus fall under the scope of the Large-scale Distribution Business Act. We plan to ensure that monitoring of unfair practices by not only nationwide distributors but also regional representative distributors is not neglected, preventing blind spots in oversight."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
