Seoul City Eco and Passenger Car Mileage Program Revamp

Relaxation of Payment Criteria, Introduction of New Mileage System

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 8th that it will completely overhaul the mileage system to increase new subscribers to the Eco and Passenger Car Mileage programs, which provide benefits proportional to the energy saved by citizens, and to activate practical energy-saving activities.

This system reform was promoted to partially alleviate the burden of living expenses, which has been exacerbated by the sharp rise in energy costs and prices this winter, and to encourage efficient energy use.

The main contents include the establishment of continuous (maintenance) mileage for Eco and Passenger Car Mileage, relaxation of the Eco Mileage payment criteria, shortening of the payment cycle for Passenger Car Mileage, and the introduction of new Green Practice Driving Mileage. The system reform will be implemented in stages over 2023 and 2024.

First, in the second half of this year, a ‘continuous (maintenance) mileage’ will be introduced to both Eco and Passenger Car Mileage programs, providing an additional 10,000 mileage points even if energy savings below a certain standard are continuously maintained.

From next year, the Eco Mileage payment tiers will be subdivided from 3 to 5 levels to relax the payment criteria, and the payment cycle for Passenger Car Mileage will be shortened from once a year (annual cycle) to twice a year (6-month cycle).

A new ‘Green Practice Driving Mileage’ will be introduced in the second half of this year, which evaluates eco-friendly driving habits such as not speeding or sudden braking, and provides additional mileage, expanding the program to reward not only energy savings but also eco-friendly habit practices.

Through cooperation with Hyundai Kia Motors and automatic driving distance recording, Passenger Car Mileage can be provided without registering dashboard photos of the driving distance, resolving the inconvenience of manual driving distance registration. In cases where photo registration is unavoidable, an image analysis (OCR) system (software) for driving distance registration photos will be introduced to automatically extract the driving distance from dashboard photos, which is expected to reduce the workload of Passenger Car Mileage payment operations.

By automating the comparison between the member’s registered address for Eco Mileage and their resident registration address, the administrative procedures for district and neighborhood office staff will be simplified, and mileage payments will be made faster, thereby increasing citizen satisfaction.

Meanwhile, to minimize the accumulation of unused mileage and mileage set to expire (after 5 years), the city plans to strengthen guidance for members on using remaining mileage and encourage mileage use by adding Seoul Love Gift Certificates as a benefit for using and providing integrated Eco Mileage.

The city expects that this reform plan will motivate active participation from citizens and increase new memberships and practical energy-saving activities by alleviating the difficulties of continuous savings every year.

Lee In-geun, Head of the Seoul Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “Over the past 13 years, many citizens have actively participated in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through Eco and Passenger Car Mileage,” and added, “We will continue to improve the environmental mileage system in a way that is easier to participate in and encourages active engagement, and do our best to support citizens’ eco-friendly activities.”