Baemin has submitted a voluntary corrective plan to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) over alleged violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, according to reports on the 22nd. Earlier, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) had been investigating allegations that Baemin asked store owners on its platform to set their food prices at or below those on other delivery applications (apps). The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to convene a plenary meeting next week to review whether Baemin's voluntary corrective plan is appropriate.
Baemin's submission of a voluntary corrective plan follows the consent decision system. A consent decision is a system under which corporations accused of violations of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act voluntarily submit a corrective plan pledging to fix the problematic conduct, and if it is deemed reasonable, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) closes the case without determining whether a violation occurred. Because illegality is not determined, no penalty surcharge is imposed. While there is criticism that this is "going easy on corporations," it also has the advantage of preventing harm from spreading as corporations proactively improve their conduct.
According to reporting compiled by ChosunBiz, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) will deliberate at next week's plenary meeting on whether the consent decision application submitted by Baemin is appropriate. The application reportedly includes measures to correct the cited conduct and plans to pursue mutual growth with merchants on the platform. In most cases, corporations applying for a consent decision include in their voluntary corrective plans a mutual growth fund in the tens or hundreds of billions of won, corresponding to the expected penalty surcharge. On the — YouTube Music bundling — last month, Google likewise pursued a consent decision and pledged grants of 30 billion won to support Korea's music industry.
If Baemin's consent decision application is accepted at the plenary meeting, the corporations will then work with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) to further flesh out the voluntary corrective plan. In this process, the size of the mutual growth fund and the targets for its use may change. The finalized voluntary corrective plan is then submitted again to a plenary meeting. The consent decision process is completed only if it is also approved at the second plenary meeting. A total of two plenary meetings are held for a single consent decision, and if it is rejected even once, a sanction process to calculate the penalty surcharge proceeds.
Meanwhile, on the same allegation, Coupang Eats, which had been undergoing the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s sanction process, recently applied for a consent decision. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) plans to first deliberate Baemin's voluntary corrective plan and then review Coupang Eats' voluntary corrective plan.