Seoul High Court Cancels 27.1 Billion Won Fine Against Kakao Mobility Over "Call Allocation Favoritism"

The Fair Trade Commission's order to impose a fine of 27.1 billion won on Kakao Mobility over allegations of "call allocation favoritism" has been overturned by a court ruling.

Yonhap News Agency

On May 22, the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 7 (Presiding Judge Koo Hoegeun) ruled in favor of Kakao Mobility in its lawsuit seeking the cancellation of the corrective order and fine imposed by the Fair Trade Commission, stating, "All actions taken by the defendant against the plaintiff are hereby canceled."

Previously, in February 2023, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a corrective order and a fine of 27.1 billion won on Kakao Mobility, alleging that the company had secretly manipulated the standard taxi dispatch algorithm in the KakaoT app to favor KakaoT Blue affiliated taxis. The Commission claimed that Kakao Mobility had altered the taxi dispatch algorithm to expand its affiliated taxi business. In July of the same year, Kakao Mobility filed an administrative lawsuit challenging the Fair Trade Commission's decision.

Kakao Mobility immediately issued a statement welcoming the court's ruling. A Kakao Mobility representative said, "The dispatch acceptance rate has been used in the KakaoT dispatch logic since before the introduction of affiliated taxis in order to alleviate taxi shortages," and added, "Through this ruling, it has been confirmed that we have worked to enhance benefits for both consumers and drivers, and that there was no discrimination between affiliated and non-affiliated drivers."

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