Support of 700,000 KRW per Person for Jeonse Bus Drivers Affected by COVID-19

Support of 700,000 KRW per person for Jeonse Bus Drivers, Masks Provided to 135,000 Bus Drivers

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 6th that it will start the income stabilization fund support project for charter bus drivers from April 9th in cooperation with 17 metropolitan local governments.

This project is an income stabilization fund for charter bus drivers whose income has decreased due to reduced passenger demand caused by COVID-19, and it was included in the 4th disaster relief fund announced on the 25th of last month.

The support scale is a total of 24.5 billion KRW, providing 700,000 KRW per person to approximately 35,000 charter bus drivers.

The support targets are drivers belonging to charter bus companies with decreased sales or charter bus drivers whose personal income has decreased, who joined before February 1 of this year (including February 1) and have been continuously working until the 9th (the project announcement date). In addition, recipients of other support projects included in this 4th disaster relief fund, such as the Small Business Owner Support Fund or Support Fund Plus (Ministry of SMEs and Startups), Emergency Employment Stability Support for Special Types of Workers and Freelancers (Ministry of Employment and Labor), and Temporary Livelihood Support for Visiting and Care Service Workers (Ministry of Employment and Labor), are excluded from the payment target.

Each local government will first verify whether the charter bus company's sales have decreased, and then drivers can apply through the company or directly to the local government. If it is difficult to verify the sales decrease of the charter bus company, drivers can prepare documents proving their income decrease and apply directly to the local government. Detailed information on the fund payment application procedure will be announced on each local government's website starting from the 9th.

Also, the first supplementary budget for this year includes a budget of 4.9 billion KRW for mask support for about 135,000 bus drivers who are constantly exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection. Accordingly, each local government plans to provide masks to all bus drivers belonging to bus companies under their jurisdiction during the first half of this year.

Myungso Uh, Director General of Comprehensive Transportation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The bus industry, including charter buses, is facing great difficulties due to decreased demand caused by COVID-19. We will actively cooperate with local governments to ensure that disaster relief funds for charter bus drivers are paid promptly."