The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 17th that it has imposed a final penalty surcharge of 15.1 billion won on Kakao Mobility for unfairly blocking calls from competing franchise taxi operators. This is an adjustment from the initially provisional 72.4 billion won, as the revenue calculation standard was changed from aggregates to net basis.
The Fair Trade Commission calculated the penalty surcharge against Kakao Mobility, which operates the vehicle call platform 'KakaoT,' based on the net basis standard. The aggregates method recognizes the total transaction amount as revenue, while the net basis only acknowledges net income, excluding expenses, as operating revenue.
Recently, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) concluded that the application of the net basis in Kakao Mobility's accounting practices is appropriate, leading the Fair Trade Commission to finalize the penalty surcharge accordingly. Originally, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a penalty surcharge of 72.4 billion won based on aggregates, but due to the application of the net basis, it was adjusted to 15.1 billion won.
Kakao Mobility, in expanding its 'KakaoT Blue' franchise taxi business, demanded competing franchise taxi operators (UT, Tada, Half-half Taxi, Macaron Taxi) to provide real-time driving information of their affiliated drivers. If they refused, Kakao applied pressure by blocking the general calls of those operators' drivers on KakaoT.
The Fair Trade Commission judged such actions as an unfair transaction practice abusing market dominance. It concluded that demanding fees from competitors and coercing them to provide data, which constitutes business secrets, were severe violations. Earlier in September, the Fair Trade Commission issued a corrective order along with a penalty surcharge against Kakao Mobility and decided on a corporate accusation.