Broadcasting Commission imposes a 624 million KRW fine on LG Uplus

LGU+ "Immediate Improvement... Will Conduct Regular Monitoring"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Korea Communications Commission imposed a fine of 624 million KRW on LG Uplus along with corrective orders to improve work processing procedures.

On the morning of the 9th, the KCC held a plenary meeting and announced that it had resolved to take such measures against LG Uplus for violating prohibited acts under the Telecommunications Business Act during the management of unpaid communication fees.

According to the investigation, although LG Uplus’s terms of service allow service suspension (outgoing call suspension) only after two months of non-payment if the unpaid amount is less than 77,000 KRW, it was found that over the past five years, LG Uplus arbitrarily changed the suspension dates to the first month of non-payment for 16,835 users and suspended their service.

Mirae Credit Information Co., Ltd. and MG Credit Information Co., Ltd., which were commissioned by LG Uplus to handle 'unpaid notice and consultation' tasks, arbitrarily advanced the suspension dates to unspecified dates in the first month of non-payment (the month of unpaid notice), which is before the preset 'scheduled suspension date' of the second month of non-payment (billing month + unpaid notice month), when finalizing the 'suspension date' after notifying and consulting with the unpaid users.

Additionally, although the terms of service require notifying unpaid users of the suspension date and period at least 7 days before the suspension, LG Uplus failed to notify 73,269 users whose suspension dates were advanced to the first month of non-payment.

The Korea Communications Commission judged that LG Uplus’s arbitrary change of suspension dates for unpaid communication fees and failure to notify the suspension dates in advance constituted providing telecommunication services differently from the terms of service, violating Article 50, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5 of the Telecommunications Business Act, and imposed a fine of 624 million KRW along with corrective orders.

Chairman Sang-hyuk Han of the KCC emphasized, “Telecommunication service providers must strictly manage and clearly inform suspension dates according to the procedures for handling unpaid fees stipulated in the terms of service, even in cases of unpaid fees. They should strengthen management of commissioned companies and make active efforts to prevent recurrence of similar cases.”

LG Uplus stated, "We have immediately improved the shortcomings identified by the Korea Communications Commission’s investigation and have thoroughly conducted education for counselors regarding compliance with the terms of service related to unpaid fees," adding, "We will regularly monitor and strictly supervise to ensure that such errors never occur again."

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