Lee Jae-myung "Onple Law Must Be Enacted"... Opposition Reacts Against Baemin and Coupang Eats Fee Cooperation Plan

Lee Jae-myung "If self-regulation is impossible, sanctions are necessary"
Min Byung-duk "A hasty decision... rather raises delivery fees"
Kim Nam-geun "Promoting Onple Act including commission cap"

The opposition parties, including the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed their opposition to the tiered commission rate plan proposed by the 'Delivery Platform-Merchant Win-Win Council.' Holding a majority of seats, the Democratic Party is expected to accelerate the enactment of the Online Platform Intermediary Transactions Fairness Act (On-Platform Act), arguing that it can replace the win-win plan.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, is talking with Representative Park Jumin during the plenary session held at the National Assembly on the previous day (14th). Photo by Kim Hyun-min

On the morning of the 15th, Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly, "Although the Win-Win Council claims to have reached an agreement, it is a half-hearted agreement," adding, "If self-regulation is impossible, we will inevitably have to establish a certain sanction system." He continued, "We will create the Online Platform Transaction Fairness Act for comprehensive management and supervision of online platforms," and said, "We will focus our efforts on enacting the bill and sharing the results of innovation together."

The Democratic Party has been promoting the 'Online Platform Transaction Fairness Act,' commonly called the 'On-Platform Act,' since the previous National Assembly. The party insists that the upper limit for delivery platform intermediary commission rates should be below 5%. The reason is that two companies, Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats, hold over 80% of the market share. Kim Nam-geun, the lawmaker who proposed the bill, told reporters, "Because monopolistic companies are forcing high commissions, the government must intervene to resolve the problem."

Earlier, lawmakers from the Democratic Party's 'Euljiro Livelihood Protection Practice Council (Euljiro Committee)' and Han Chang-min from the Social Democratic Party held a press conference condemning the 'Delivery App Win-Win Council.' Min Byung-duk, chair of the Euljiro Committee, said, "The final win-win plan of the council is not welcomed by small business owners and self-employed people," adding, "Delivery fees were raised as much as the commissions were lowered." He criticized, "The negotiation plan is a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and cannot be a solution," calling it "a bad move after much deliberation." The press conference was also attended by the management of the National Franchisee Association, which participated in the Win-Win Council."

At the 12th meeting held the previous day at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, the Win-Win Council decided to introduce a tiered commission system, lowering the intermediary commission rates of Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats from 9.8% to between 2.0% and 7.8%. This was the result after 115 days of meetings since the council's launch. The decision was made amid opposition from two merchant groups, including the National Franchisee Association. The Win-Win Council consisted of four delivery platforms (Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats, Yogiyo, and Ttaenggyeo) and four merchant organizations (Korea Foodservice Industry Association, National Franchisee Association, National Merchants Federation, and Small Business Federation), along with four public interest commissioners.

Participants at the press conference pointed out that the problem was that the delivery platforms significantly raised the intermediary commission rate from 6.8% to 9.8% just before joining the Win-Win Council. Compared to last year's 6.8%, the final win-win plan actually increased the burden on merchants. At the press conference, lawmaker Lee Kang-il said, "The maximum intermediary commission rate should have been set below 6.8% as the standard," adding, "Baedal Minjok made an operating profit of 700 billion KRW last year even with a 6.8% commission."

The Democratic Party also plans to continue efforts to promote public delivery apps. Lawmaker Kim said, "The Democratic Party's Euljiro Committee is forming a task force (TF) to revitalize public delivery apps," adding, "We will soon announce plans to promote public delivery apps at forums and meetings."