Ministry of SMEs and Startups to Announce First Improvement Measures on 11th
Second Survey of Over 430 Sites to be Conducted by 29th
The government took legal action and administrative measures against high-value sales merchants suspected of fraudulent distribution of Onnuri gift certificates to improve the situation. Along with this, it plans to strengthen the preemptive prevention system through the Fraud Detection System (FDS) and reform the maximum exchange limit criteria for merchants and the method of sales recognition.
On the afternoon of September 12, a citizen is holding an Onnuri gift certificate at Mangwon Market in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the "Onnuri Gift Certificate Fraudulent Distribution Improvement Plan" containing these details on the 11th.
From an investigation conducted on 15 merchants suspected of fraudulent distribution due to high-value sales averaging over 500 million KRW per month between the 21st and 30th of last month, violations were confirmed in 13 merchants. Seven of them were reported to judicial authorities and subjected to administrative measures. The remaining six are undergoing administrative procedures.
From today until the 29th, a second investigation will be conducted targeting a total of 434 stores, including 347 stores with monthly sales over 100 million KRW and 87 stores suspected of retailing alcoholic beverages, with strict measures to be taken if violations related to fraudulent distribution are detected.
As an improvement plan, the preemptive prevention system through FDS will be further solidified, and administrative penalties for violations will be strengthened. Until now, the Small Enterprise and Market Service has detected large bundled transactions and suspicious transactions once a year through the FDS of the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute. Going forward, the frequency of on-site investigations of merchants suspected of fraudulent distribution detected by FDS will be reduced to a monthly basis. Transactions classified as suspicious by banks during gift certificate sales and receipts will be immediately verified starting today.
For merchants detected with fraudulent distribution, in addition to the current imposition of fines and cancellation of merchant registration, new regulations will be established to recover unfair profits obtained through illegal accumulation. Furthermore, related laws will be amended to strengthen restrictions on merchant registration periods and participation in small business support projects.
Exchange limit management will be strengthened by reforming the maximum exchange limit criteria for merchants and the sales recognition method. The criteria will be decided annually through deliberation by an expert consultative body for exchange limit approval, and the monthly exchange limit for merchants will be gradually increased within a certain multiple. Merchants with sales over 100 million KRW will have their sales performance checked every six months, and limits will be lowered if they fall short.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to block false merchant registrations and focus on post-management through periodic inspections. To prevent false Onnuri gift certificate merchant registrations, a temporary registration procedure will be introduced to verify that the applying store is an actual operating store within the area, and the application method will be reformed. Even after merchant registration, the local Small and Medium Business Administration, in cooperation with the Small Enterprise and Market Service and market merchant associations, will conduct monthly regular inspections of the jurisdictional markets to check merchant registration requirements.
The National Merchants Federation will also take the lead in forming and operating fraud monitoring teams in 17 branches, and by the end of this month, individual markets nationwide will establish their own market monitoring teams to conduct fraud reporting, on-site verification, and crackdowns.
Won Young-jun, head of the Onnuri Gift Certificate Improvement Task Force and Director of the Small Business Policy Office, said, "We will prepare and announce a comprehensive plan within the year that includes establishing a management system for the overall operation of Onnuri gift certificates, institutional improvements, and revitalization measures."
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