Fair Trade Commission: "Hyundai Rotem Received Technical Data from 45 Small and Medium Enterprises Without Written Consent... Corrective Order and Fine Imposed"

An example of major railway vehicle parts for which Hyundai Rotem requested and received technical data parts (marked in red) from small and medium subcontractors without providing a technical data request form.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Hyundai Rotem was sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission for requesting and receiving 210 technical documents from 45 small and medium subcontractors without providing written requests stating the purpose of the request.

On the 8th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it had decided to issue a corrective order and impose a fine of 16 million KRW on Hyundai Rotem for violating the obligation to provide written requests when demanding technical documents.

According to the Subcontracting Act, the principal contractor may request technical documents only for justifiable reasons. In such cases, the principal contractor must provide a written document containing seven items: ▲name and scope of the technical documents, ▲purpose of the request, ▲method of confidentiality, ▲ownership of the technical documents, ▲compensation and method of payment, ▲date of request, provision date, and method of provision, and ▲information proving the legitimacy of the request.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, Hyundai Rotem, a major manufacturer and seller of railway vehicles and automobile production equipment, requested 210 technical documents, including parts drawings related to railway vehicles and automobile production equipment, from 45 small and medium enterprises verbally or via email from April 2014 to June 2018, without providing prior written documents specifying ownership rights, confidentiality, and compensation.

A Fair Trade Commission official stated, "This action serves as a warning to the machinery industry about the importance of providing written requests for technical documents," adding, "The Fair Trade Commission plans to strengthen monitoring of non-provision of written requests, impose strict sanctions upon detection, and continue efforts to promote the system so that the technical document request system can take deep root in the market."

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