Unable to Receive Disaster Relief Funds Due to Late Business Registration... Resolving Small Business Owners' Difficulties

Kwonikwi "Received 118 Complaints on Disaster Relief Funds, Resolved 63 Cases"

#Mr. A, who lives in Busan, inherited a PC room from his deceased mother and then closed the business registration under his mother's name and re-registered it under his own name. After that, he applied for the Small Business New Hope Fund but did not receive it. This is because the business registration had to be completed before May 31 of last year to be eligible, but the registration date was later than that.

#Mr. B in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi Province, tried to apply for the Small Business New Hope Fund using the business registration number while operating a branch of C Cafe. However, according to the regulations, applications were only possible with the head office's business registration number. Since the head office closed in 2019, Mr. B was unable to even apply for support.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on the 26th that from September last year to last month, it received 118 complaints from people like Mr. A and Mr. B who did not receive government disaster relief funds for small business owners and resolved 63 of them. They are mainly requesting complaint handling through the post-management team of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, which disburses the funds.

First, in Mr. A's case, the issue was resolved by emphasizing that cases where the business registration name was changed due to inheritance are eligible for fund support. It was explained that even if Mr. A was unaware of the regulations and newly registered the business, it was deemed appropriate to consider him as an entrepreneur who started the business before the support criteria date. In Mr. B's case, although the branch address was not changed after the head office closed, it was regarded as effectively the head office. The commission persuaded the service to allow Mr. B to receive the funds.

Lim Jin-hong, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's grievance review officer, said, "We will do our best to actively resolve the difficulties of small business owners and self-employed people who are facing significant management challenges due to decreased sales and social distancing, in order to revive local communities and the economy of ordinary people."