Consumer Agency: "Taxi Platforms Inadequate in Notifying Cancellation Fees"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Mr. A called a taxi using a taxi platform at Isu Station on Seoul Subway Line 4 in August last year. Before the taxi arrived, a colleague hailed a street taxi for him to go home, but the next day, a cancellation fee of 50,000 won was automatically charged.

According to a survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency on the 22nd regarding the use of taxi platforms, it was found necessary to strengthen the notification of cancellation fees when calling taxis and to reasonably adjust the cancellation fees for reserved calls.

According to the Consumer Agency, over the past four years, a total of 483 consumer complaints related to taxi platforms were received at the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center, showing an increasing trend every year. The types of complaints were ‘unfair fare charges’ at 34.4% (166 cases), ‘insufficient service during operation’ at 21.1% (102 cases), and ‘excessive cancellation fees’ at 17.0% (82 cases), with fare-related complaints (51.4%) accounting for more than half.

On taxi platforms, some impose fees when canceling a call or not boarding after dispatch is completed, especially for vehicles with separate call fees or relatively high base fares.

Immediate call cancellation fees are charged between 1,000 and 5,000 won depending on the platform and vehicle if canceled 1 to 3 minutes after dispatch completion. If the consumer cannot be contacted or does not board within 5 minutes of the scheduled departure time, a fee between 2,000 and 5,500 won is charged.

However, monitoring four mobile applications (apps) among the surveyed platforms that impose call cancellation fees showed that only one app (Banban Taxi) displayed cancellation fee information directly on the taxi selection and call screen. The other three apps (Kakao T, Tada, i.M) required users to click on a small specific icon separately to check the information. The Consumer Agency pointed out that consumers might not be aware of cancellation fee information when calling a taxi.

Based on this survey, the Korea Consumer Agency plans to recommend taxi platform operators to ▲ strengthen notification of cancellation fees ▲ reasonably adjust cancellation fees for reserved calls ▲ establish compensation regulations for damages in case of operator contract breaches.

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