Intermediate Report of 253 Cases Received on Cargo Truck Owner Lease System Damage Including License Plate Cutting

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 6th that a total of 253 reports, averaging 21 per day, have been received so far in the ongoing "Intensive Reporting of Jiipje Damage" campaign targeting freight truck owners. These figures cover the period from the 20th of last month to the 3rd of this month, and reports can be submitted until the 17th.

Trucks parked at the Western Truck Terminal in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Among the reported cases, the most common type was "transport operators demanding or receiving additional money under the pretext of license plate usage fees, etc., or failing to return such fees" (44%, 111 cases). This was followed by "charging for stamp fees as consent costs during the process of vehicle replacement" (6%, 16 cases), and "failure to record the fact of in-kind investors in the vehicle registration certificate" (4%, 11 cases).

There were also reports of cases suspected to involve forcibly cutting out or seizing vehicle license plates to unilaterally terminate contracts with existing owners who have contract renewal rights. Illegal cases included transferring various payments not to the transport operator corporation but to accounts of the representative’s spouse or children, forcibly taking freight truck owners’ license plates, and coercing them to stamp memorandums. The Ministry plans to request investigations or inquiries from related agencies such as the National Tax Service and the National Police Agency after legal review.

Since the 2nd of this month, the Ministry has been conducting on-site inspections of transport companies together with local governments to verify the facts of the reports. The inspection teams consist of three members?one each from the Ministry, city/province, and city/county/district. They investigate the basic status and consignment contracts of major transport companies that have received reports. They listen to explanations from transport operators regarding the reports, cross-check evidence from reporters with company ledgers to confirm any illegal activities, and subsequently carry out follow-up administrative actions such as business suspension or fines.

Earlier, on the 6th of last month, the Ministry announced the "Freight Transport Industry Normalization Plan" through a ruling party-government consultation and has been promoting reforms to the Jiipje system. A bill to amend the "Freight Motor Vehicle Transport Business Act," which includes institutional improvement measures, has already been proposed.

The goal is to eliminate so-called "Jiipje specialized companies" that collect only license plate rental fees (license plate premiums and Jiipje fees) without providing work to Jiip truck owners. Vehicles of transport companies that do not provide even minimal work to Jiip truck owners will be reduced, and those Jiip truck owners will be permitted to operate as independent individual transport businesses.

Additionally, the current practice of registering vehicles under the transport company’s name during Jiip contracts will be improved to register them under the actual owner, the Jiip truck owner. Contract terms involving unfair monetary demands such as license plate usage fees, stamp fees for vehicle replacement, and vehicle ownership transfer fees will be declared invalid and regulated as obligations of transport operators. Violations will result in administrative sanctions such as vehicle reduction.

Kang Ju-yeop, Director of Logistics Policy at the Ministry, said, "This reporting period has once again confirmed the need for institutional improvements. We will conduct additional on-site investigations to accurately identify the abuses caused by Jiipje and strive to ensure that the amendment to the Freight Motor Vehicle Transport Business Act is promptly advanced in the National Assembly."

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