Hapcheon-gun Conducts Comprehensive Crackdown on Illegal Distribution of Hapcheon Sarang Gift Certificates

Crackdown on Illegal Distribution Including Monetization Through Internet Cafes

Hapcheon County Office building.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam announced on the 5th that it will conduct a comprehensive crackdown on illegal distribution due to increased demand and expanded issuance of Hapcheon Sarang Gift Certificates from the 6th to the 20th.

The Hapcheon Sarang Gift Certificate is a voucher that can only be used at affiliated stores within our county. The paper type can be purchased at a 5% discount, while the card and mobile types can be purchased at a 10% discount.

Starting with the paper type gift certificate in 2011, the mobile type was introduced in 2020, and the card type gift certificate has been issued since April 2021 to enhance accessibility and convenience. As a result, the amount has steadily increased to 1.9 billion KRW in 2019, 6.8 billion KRW in 2020, and 6.4 billion KRW as of October 2021.

However, recently, media reports have continued regarding cases of illegal distribution such as cashing regional love gift certificates through internet cafes in other local governments. This behavior goes against the purpose of issuing the gift certificates, which is to revitalize the local economy and support small business owners.

The targets of this comprehensive crackdown include affiliated stores engaging in restricted business types, receiving gift certificates without selling goods or providing services (so-called ‘Kkang’), receiving gift certificates through transactions exceeding actual sales amounts, acting as agents for exchanging gift certificates fraudulently received by individual affiliated stores, and affiliated store owners continuously purchasing and exchanging gift certificates under another person's name.

The county will secure payment information through the Hapcheon Sarang Gift Certificate management system and use the suspicious transaction extraction program provided by Gyeongsangnam-do to identify affiliated stores subject to investigation. Then, depending on the suspicious amounts and frequency, telephone verification and on-site crackdowns will be conducted.

For affiliated stores caught in the crackdown, measures such as guidance, cancellation of affiliated store registration, recovery of unfair profits, and imposition of fines will be taken in accordance with the ‘Act on the Promotion of Local Love Gift Certificates.’

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