80.8% of Delivery Service Companies in Gyeonggi-do Say "We Will Adopt the Government Standard Contract"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been revealed that 80.8% of delivery agencies in Gyeonggi-do agreed to adopt the "Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Delivery Agency Standard Consignment Contract" to protect delivery workers.

Gyeonggi-do, the Fair Trade Commission, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 22nd the results of a joint inspection conducted from April to July on the contractual relationships between 99 delivery agencies and delivery workers within the province.

The inspected delivery agencies are those using delivery platforms such as Saenggakdaero, Barogo, and Bureung, and employing 50 or more delivery workers.

This inspection was conducted with the purpose of promoting fair contract drafting and the adoption of standard contracts between platform delivery agencies, local delivery agencies, and delivery workers (excluding direct employment labor contracts).

Delivery workers often work as labor providers (such as sole proprietors) through rapidly growing platform companies or operate under verbal agreements with multiple businesses without written contracts, resulting in cases of unfair treatment such as forced work beyond contract terms and shifting responsibility for faults not caused by them.

In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport prepared the "Delivery Agency Standard Consignment Contract" last year after gathering opinions from the industry and labor sectors, which includes prohibitions on unfair practices.

As a result of this inspection, 80 out of 99 agencies (80.8%) in the province agreed to adopt the standard contract. Furthermore, they decided to conclude the standard contract within this year, which includes provisions on delivery fees and reasonable compensation responsibilities with delivery workers.

Considering that 14 of the 99 inspected agencies were either closed or had unknown addresses and thus could not be inspected, the majority of agencies have effectively decided to participate in "fair contracts."

The province is closely monitoring the remaining five agencies that refused to participate in the standard contract for unfair trade practices and has notified them that they may be subject to investigation by the Fair Trade Commission if related complaints are filed in the future.

Through this inspection, the province identified unfair contract conditions such as compensation responsibilities unfavorable to delivery workers that do not consider the fault of the consignor or consignee in case of accidents, excessive and unclear criteria for contract termination, and unilateral changes to delivery fees.

The inspection was conducted through face-to-face surveys of agencies in 31 cities and counties by the Gyeonggi-do Fair Trade Continuous Monitoring Team.

Additionally, promotion of the business certification system and the introduction of the standard contract in accordance with the enforcement of the Living Logistics Act on the 27th of this month was also carried out.

With the enforcement of the Living Logistics Act, incentive measures such as tax benefits, joining mutual aid associations, and administrative and financial support can be prepared for adopting the standard contract.

The province plans to conduct a separate inspection in the second half of this year to verify compliance by agencies that agreed to adopt the standard contract.

Kim Ji-ye, Director of the Gyeonggi-do Fair Trade Bureau, stated, "We hope this inspection will serve as an opportunity to eradicate unfair contract practices in the delivery industry and protect the rights of delivery workers," adding, "The promotion of the upcoming Living Logistics Act is also being carried out simultaneously, which aims to encourage fair contract practices through incentives rather than penalties."

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