The period for reducing road occupancy fees for small business owners will be extended by two years until the end of 2026.
On the 2nd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had identified a total of 41 regulatory improvement tasks at the second quarter Land, Infrastructure and Transport Regulatory Reform Committee this year.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided to extend the period of road occupancy fee reduction, which was originally scheduled to end this year, until the end of 2026 for small business owners.
Road occupancy refers to the use of a part of the road with permission from the road management authority within the scope that does not interfere with safety and traffic, and the fee charged for this is the road occupancy fee. This includes vehicle entry and exit facilities installed on sidewalks, private guide signs, and business facilities on sidewalks subject to occupancy fees.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been reducing road occupancy fees by 25% since 2020 to support small business owners and others struggling due to COVID-19. This was planned until the end of this year, but recently, following a recommendation from the Regulatory Review Division of the Office for Government Policy Coordination to maintain the reduction, a two-year extension was decided.
In addition, the Ministry will simplify the documents required for extending the operation permit period for vehicles weighing over 48 tons. These vehicles are usually granted a short road operation permit period within two months, and when the permit period expires and an extension is requested, local governments require additional supporting documents. Accordingly, the Ministry plans to revise the 'Vehicle Operation Restriction Regulations' within this year to minimize related supporting documents when only the permit period is extended for the same vehicle, route, and cargo.
Besides this, ten regulations in the road sector will be revised by the end of the year. These include unifying the payment method for unpaid tolls on private expressways (Incheon Bridge, Incheon Gimpo, Anyang Seongnam, Seoul Munsan) and shortening the performance evaluation period for Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) equipment from the existing 15 days to 10 days.
Elevators in apartments will be permitted for demolition and installation simultaneously during replacement. Previously, separate permits for the act and usage inspections were required individually, causing delays in replacement. In response to such concerns, the Ministry explained that guidelines have been distributed to local governments to allow simultaneous permits for demolition and installation and to conduct only one usage inspection after installation.
The scope of paid transportation allowed for government and local government-owned vehicles will be clearly defined as 'transportation vulnerable groups,' including the elderly, pregnant women, and children, instead of just 'persons with disabilities.' Currently, the user scope of shuttle buses operating at welfare facilities such as senior welfare centers, child welfare centers, and day and night care centers is unclear, causing confusion in permit standards.
Moon Seong-yo, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We will spare no support to ensure that the 41 tasks identified over the past three months are implemented without delay," and added, "The Ministry operates its own Regulatory Reform Committee to re-examine regulations that the public feels in daily life, so we hope that any areas needing regulatory improvement will be suggested through the website at any time."
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