"KakaoT Outage, a Foreseen Human Error" Taxi Workers Consider Lawsuits for Compensation

"Unable to Cover Surcharge, Early Suspension of Operations Too"
"Due to Excessive Business Expansion... Measures Needed for Free Users"
Consideration of Compensation if Damage Is Significant Through Analysis

On the 18th, union members belonging to the National Democratic Taxi Union held an emergency press conference for corporate taxi workers regarding the 'KakaoT communication disruption damage' and the government's late-night ride difficulty relief measures at the Service Federation conference room in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Corporate taxi workers have demanded compensation measures from Kakao, claiming they suffered damages due to the ‘Kakao Blackout Incident.’ They collected data on the extent of the damage and called for compensation and measures to prevent recurrence.

On the 18th, the National Democratic Taxi Labor Union (Minju Taxi), affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Service Federation, held a press conference at the Service Federation’s main conference room in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, stating, “Corporate taxi workers were unable to meet their daily quotas, leading many to stop weekend taxi operations early or spend long hours ‘gilppang’ (waiting on the street), resulting in a very chaotic situation that lasted for two days.”

They pointed out that Kakao’s excessive business expansion caused this incident. Soo-young Koo, chairman of Minju Taxi, said, “Kakao has indiscriminately expanded its business like an octopus into neighborhood markets, focusing solely on profit-seeking, dominating the daily lives and work of the people,” adding, “This is a disaster caused by the harms of monopoly that neglects the public nature of the people, and it is not a coincidence but an inevitably foreseeable man-made disaster.”

Minju Taxi also emphasized the need for measures for corporate taxi workers who use Kakao’s services for free. This is because Kakao announced it would only compensate for paid services that charge commissions in this incident. Chairman Koo said, “There is little difference between free and paid services,” and “Only preparing measures for paid services ignores the damages suffered by the people using free services.”

They demanded collective compensation measures for taxi workers affected by this incident, including ▲ an apology for the ‘communication blackout’ ▲ compensation methods ▲ and measures to prevent recurrence.

In particular, they plan to distribute analytical data by collecting case examples of damages, and if the workers’ damages are significant, they are expected to consider legal action. Chairman Koo stated, “An analysis of the differences between normal times and this incident must be conducted to consider filing claims for damages or demanding compensation rights.”

Additionally, Minju Taxi criticized the ‘Taxi Late-Night Boarding Difficulty Relief Measures’ announced by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on October 4, calling it “a policy that reduces taxi workers to illegal daily quota systems, part-time substitute drivers, and illegal subcontracted drivers, while burdening them with transportation costs such as fuel expenses.”

Meanwhile, on the same day, four taxi-related organizations (National Taxi Labor Union Federation, National Democratic Taxi Labor Union Federation, National Private Taxi Transport Business Association Federation, and National Taxi Transport Business Association Federation) issued a statement declaring, “We will hold responsible parties accountable for the damages caused by this incident until the end,” and urged the government to prepare measures through thorough management and supervision.

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