Kakao Mobility Launches 'Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support'... Up to 13 Million KRW Assistance

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kakao Mobility announced on the 24th that it will start the ‘Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support’ program in partnership with the Hope Bridge National Disaster Relief Association.

The ‘Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support’ program was established to improve the treatment of platform providers by ensuring the health rights of taxi drivers. Kakao Mobility plans to provide practical assistance for the rapid health recovery and stable livelihood maintenance of taxi drivers as a minimum benefit and protection for platform workers.

The program is operated with 2.2 billion KRW out of the 10 billion KRW ‘Mobility Workers Win-Win Fund’ jointly established by Kakao Mobility and Kakao’s corporate foundation Kakao Impact, and is scheduled to run for one year until November 2023.

Through this project, taxi drivers who have incurred medical expenses due to illness or aftereffects of accidents but are unable to receive treatment due to financial difficulties will be supported for costs corresponding to the co-payment of health insurance or private insurance, up to a maximum limit of 13 million KRW per person. Costs for simple health checkups, health management infusions and medications, or cosmetic purposes are excluded.

Eligibility requires taxi drivers who have worked for at least one month within the past year or are currently employed, with an income at or below 140% of the median income. Applications can be submitted anytime until October next year through the KakaoTalk Plus Friend channel ‘Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support,’ by submitting related documents such as hospital diagnosis certificates and taxi driver identification materials.

Support recipients will be selected through monthly eligibility reviews by a screening committee composed of five medical welfare and healthcare experts. Once support is confirmed, individual notifications will be sent to each recipient. Related inquiries can be made through the KakaoTalk Plus Friend channel ‘Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support.’

Ryu Geung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility, said, “This ‘Taxi Driver Medical and Livelihood Safety Support’ was prepared as a practical support measure for mobility platform workers who are in crisis due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and deepening economic recession. Since platform workers use various platforms simultaneously, we hope this support project will serve as a starting point to create a virtuous cycle of improved treatment for workers in the industry.”

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