[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Constitutional Court has ruled that the current law, which effectively bans the ride-sharing platform service 'Tada,' does not violate the Constitution.
On the 24th, the Constitutional Court delivered a unanimous decision upholding the constitutionality of Article 34, Paragraph 2, Subparagraph 1 of the Passenger Transport Service Act, which restricts van rental services to tourism purposes, requires usage time to be at least 6 hours, and limits rental and return locations to airports and ports.
The Passenger Vehicle Act, amended last year, includes provisions that when renting 11-15 passenger vehicles for tourism purposes, drivers can only be arranged if the rental period is 6 hours or longer, or if the rental and return locations are airports or ports.
However, VCNC, the operator of Tada, ceased operations and filed a constitutional complaint after the amended Passenger Transport Service Act passed the National Assembly, making the Tada service practically impossible. Their argument was that restricting the usage purpose to 'tourism' and limiting the rental time to 6 hours or more or rental/return locations to airports or ports violates the Constitution.
In particular, they claimed that "the amended law restricts users' choice of transportation, infringing on the right to self-determination as part of the pursuit of happiness under Article 10 of the Constitution," and that "the right to arrange a driver is unreasonably and discriminatively limited based on travel purpose, time, and place, violating the right to equality." They also argued that the amendment infringed on corporate freedom and property rights, as well as the freedom of occupation of Tada drivers and employees of companies like Socar.
However, the Constitutional Court stated, "The Passenger Transport Service Act was introduced to enhance the convenience of tourists, and when combined with driver arrangement, there is a risk of operating similarly to taxi transportation businesses," and explained that "the newly established provisions clarify the requirements consistent with the original tourism purpose," dismissing the complaint.
Furthermore, the Court explained, "Similar services overlapping with existing taxi transportation businesses have been provided without equal regulation, causing significant social conflict," and added, "The state needs to appropriately regulate driver arrangement activities to ensure the smooth operation, comprehensive development, and proper provision of transportation services in the public-interest passenger vehicle transport business."
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