Gangwon Province Launches Crackdown on Illegal Distribution of 'Gangwon Gift Certificates'

Focused Crackdown on Illegal Receipt and Exchange of Gift Certificates at Franchise Stores from March 16 to 31

Gangwon Gift Certificate [Gangwon-do]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gangwon Province will conduct a comprehensive crackdown on the illegal distribution of 'Gangwon Gift Certificates' in the first half of the year.

This crackdown will take place from the 16th of this month until the end of the month to address concerns about illegal distribution arising from the expansion of local love gift certificate issuance and to restore a sound distribution order for local love gift certificates.

The main targets of the crackdown are ▲operating restricted businesses registered as gift certificate affiliated stores ▲receiving gift certificates without selling goods or providing services (so-called 'Kkang') ▲receiving or exchanging gift certificates exceeding actual sales amounts.

Additionally, ▲acting as an agent for exchanging fraudulently received gift certificates at individual affiliated stores ▲refusing gift certificate payments or treating gift certificate holders disadvantageously ▲purchasing gift certificates under another person's name and then exchanging them by the store owner ▲unregistered affiliated stores, closed or suspended affiliated stores are also included.

The province will conduct on-site inspections based on monitoring of specific transactions through the operating agency and gift certificate system, as well as reports from residents on illegal distribution, and will conduct joint crackdowns with city and county inspection teams depending on the case.

Affiliated stores found violating the rules will face administrative or financial penalties such as guidance, cancellation of store registration, fines, and recovery of unfair profits according to relevant laws. In some cases, police investigations will also be requested.

Park Yoo-sik, Director of the Social Economy Division, stated, "Stores suspected of illegal distribution will be strictly punished according to the law through investigations, and we plan to conduct frequent crackdowns through continuous monitoring and operation of an illegal distribution reporting center."

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