The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) announced on the 21st that it welcomes the Fair Trade Commission's proposed "Platform Fair Competition Promotion Act" (tentative name).
In a statement released that day, KFME said, "Some intermediary platforms have been collecting and utilizing big data from users and businesses to directly establish business locations in local commercial districts," adding, "These platforms have abused their monopoly position by favoring their own businesses within the platform, infringing on the livelihood of micro enterprises." KFME has long argued that micro enterprises must be protected from unfair pricing practices, collusion, and abuse of monopoly power related to advertising fees and reservation commissions by certain platforms.
On the 19th, the Fair Trade Commission reported at a Cabinet meeting presided over by President Yoon Suk-yeol that it would prepare a bill for the Platform Fair Competition Promotion Act. The bill aims to pre-designate a few large platform companies as "dominant operators" and prohibit unfair practices such as self-preferencing and restrictions on multi-homing (prohibiting users of their platform from using competing platforms).
Regarding this, KFME stated, "We hope that the prompt enactment of the law will resolve the serious threats to the survival of micro enterprises caused by platform operators' encroachment on local commercial districts," emphasizing, "We look forward to the government and National Assembly reflecting voices from the field in their discussions and swiftly enacting the law to create a tight safety net for micro enterprises as soon as possible."
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