Korea Railroad "Special Crackdown on Fare Evasion... Civil Lawsuits for Non-Payment"

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) is launching a special crackdown on 'fare evasion.'

KORAIL announced on the 31st that it will increase ticket inspection personnel and conduct surprise inspections throughout next month as part of a special crackdown on fare evasion.

In particular, during the special inspection period, a separate 'mobile ticket inspection team' will be formed and operated on certain sections such as Seoul~Suwon and Seoul~Gwangmyeong.

The targets of the crackdown include acts such as riding without a valid ticket and using returned tickets to board trains. KORAIL has also updated the QR ticket inspection process to prevent fraudulent use of returned or expired tickets.

Last year, KORAIL detected 200,000 cases of fare evasion. The number of detected fare evasion cases has steadily increased from 140,000 in 2020 to 170,000 in 2021.

In response, KORAIL plans to impose additional fares up to 30 times the regular fare on fare evaders according to Article 10 of the Railroad Business Act, and if payment of the additional fare is refused, legal action and civil lawsuits will be pursued.