Opportunity for Decertified Small Giants... Seoul Eases Business Regulations

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is set to improve regulations to allow companies to reapply for the 'Seoul-Type Small Giant Company' designation even after an agreement has been terminated. This measure aims to support the continued growth of businesses. The city has also proposed to the central government that operators who generate food waste be allowed to submit their disposal plans online.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on April 26, the city is independently pursuing improvements in the following areas: ▲Establishing a reapplication procedure after the termination of the Seoul-Type Small Giant Company agreement (Policy No. 174), ▲Easing the eligibility criteria for recognizing waste disposal service contracts for the city’s suitability evaluation (Policy No. 175), and ▲Improving restrictions on payment and parking discount methods at the Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation (Policy No. 176). Additionally, two matters-▲easing construction standards for hydrothermal energy equipment and ▲improving the application and reception process for large-scale food waste generators-have been formally proposed to the central government.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is promoting regulatory improvements for the 'Seoul-Type Small Giant Company Agreement Termination and Reapplication Procedure'. Seoul Metropolitan Government

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This regulatory overhaul focuses on 'removing obstacles so companies can persevere.' The core goal is to give businesses and self-employed individuals new opportunities to try again, lower barriers to market entry, and reduce repetitive administrative procedures, thereby eliminating inconveniences that are actually felt in business investment, management, and daily operations.

First, the threshold for reapplying to become a 'Seoul-Type Small Giant Company' will be lowered. Companies whose certification was revoked due to temporary business setbacks will be able to reapply after two years. The 'Seoul-Type Small Giant Company' program selects and supports small and medium-sized enterprises that excel in youth employment and working conditions. Certified companies receive up to 45 million won per company in work environment improvement grants and consulting when hiring youth as full-time employees.

Previously, if an agreement was canceled, companies were unable to reapply even after normalizing their business operations, which was seen as a limitation in supporting sustainable growth. In response, the city will establish new criteria permitting reapplication for companies whose certifications were revoked and will implement these from the 2027 recertification assessment. However, companies that have violated laws, have records of industrial accidents, have unpaid taxes at the time of reapplication, or have voluntarily relinquished their certification will be excluded from reapplication eligibility.

The criteria for selecting waste disposal service providers will shift focus from the 'name of the waste' to the 'actual disposal method.' If a company has the capacity to process waste using the same method, it will be able to bid even without a track record for a specific waste name.

The payment method for management fees for merchants operating in major wholesale markets (Garak, Yangjae, and Gangseo) managed by the Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation will be fully revamped. Previously, automatic payment was only possible through branches of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (Nonghyup) or the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (Suhyup) within the market. Now, automatic payment will be possible at all financial institutions, and applications can also be submitted online. Until now, merchants had to visit Nonghyup or Suhyup branches inside the market to pay management fees and apply for automatic payments, causing inconvenience for those whose main bank was elsewhere.

The parking discount method at Garak Mall will also be upgraded from paper coupons to a web-based digital system. From now on, entering a vehicle number at the store will immediately apply the discount, allowing both merchants and citizens to use the service conveniently without any additional steps.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has also submitted two issues to the central government that are difficult to improve independently under current laws and regulations: creating a fair competitive environment for companies and reducing the administrative burden on the self-employed.

The city has requested the government to improve hydrothermal energy facility standards that currently require cooling-only facilities to also meet heating criteria. The intent is to introduce separate standards for cooling and heating according to actual usage. Hydrothermal energy is an eco-friendly heating and cooling energy source that utilizes water temperature differences. Under current standards, facilities primarily used for cooling must still meet both heating and cooling performance requirements.

In particular, for data centers, cooling to dissipate heat from servers accounts for about 40% of total electricity usage, making cooling demand overwhelmingly higher, while heating is used only for office space and is negligible. Thus, the city has recommended establishing separate facility standards for cooling-only or heating-only operations, reflecting the characteristics of facilities like data centers.

Furthermore, the city proposed enabling businesses that generate large amounts of food waste to file their disposal plans online. The aim is to switch from a face-to-face process, which previously required visits to district offices or submitting by mail, to a non-contact approach. If implemented, self-employed operators will no longer need to visit district offices in person, and the burden of manual data entry on public officials will be reduced, thereby speeding up administrative processing and improving accuracy.

Lee Junhyeong, Director of Regulatory Innovation at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "With both companies and the self-employed facing difficulties due to the recent economic slowdown and rising costs, this regulatory improvement aims to alleviate real burdens felt on the ground. We will boldly streamline unnecessary standards and procedures to remove obstacles to business operations, and for issues that are difficult to resolve institutionally, we will work with the government to ensure that companies and the self-employed can regain their vitality."

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