Fair Trade Commission, Ministry of Land, Seoul City, and Gyeonggi Province Jointly Inspect Contracts Between Local Delivery Agencies and Couriers

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Gyeonggi Province, and Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency have jointly decided to inspect contracts between local delivery agencies and delivery drivers.

On the 30th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it held a video kickoff meeting with related ministries and local governments including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Seoul, and Gyeonggi Province, as well as the Mediation Agency, to discuss plans and measures for inspecting contracts between local delivery agencies and delivery drivers.

This contract inspection targets the contractual relationships at the lowest tier in the multi-level transaction structure of 'delivery platform - local delivery agency - delivery driver.' It will focus on about 150 local delivery agencies located in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, specifically those with 50 or more delivery drivers. This accounts for 20% of approximately 700 local delivery agencies that transact with the top three major delivery platforms: Logiol (Saenggakdaero), Barogo (Barogo), and Mesh Korea (Booroong).

The Fair Trade Commission views that the local delivery agency industry has a significant need to improve contract practices, such as not preparing written contracts or demanding contract terms that are unilaterally disadvantageous to delivery drivers.

The related ministries and local governments plan to inspect contracts of local delivery agencies and induce voluntary correction of unfair contract terms to prevent harm to delivery drivers.

Specifically, local governments will first secure and inspect contracts of local delivery agencies, while the Fair Trade Commission and Mediation Agency will conduct a final review to determine whether contract terms are unfair and jointly encourage voluntary correction with local governments. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will also cooperate with local governments to guide businesses adopting the standard contract under the 'Living Logistics Act' to obtain certification as small parcel delivery agents and prepare incentive provision measures.

The related ministries and local governments plan to start this inspection in earnest from April and complete it by July.

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