Lee Yoo-seok, a professor in the Department of Business Administration at Dongguk University, said on the 25th regarding the cap on delivery app fees, "The fee cap was applied with good intentions, but everyone involved in the delivery platform system has been negatively affected, directly or indirectly," adding, "In the end, the burden on shop owners, riders, and consumers will increase."
On the afternoon of the same day, speaking as a presenter at the forum "In the platform era, grand transition in the distribution industry and principles and direction of fair competition," held at the Gangnam Science and Technology Convention Center in Seoul, Lee said, "In the United States, which introduced a cap on delivery app fees, the original intent of protecting small business owners was not achieved, and only adverse effects occurred." The forum was co-hosted by the Korea Distribution Association and the Korea Online Shopping Association.
Focusing on the fee cap that has recently emerged as the hottest topic in the delivery industry, the forum assessed the effectiveness of existing studies and sought policy improvements. The core of the delivery app fee cap is to limit the total fee when ordering food via a delivery app so that it does not exceed a certain percentage of the order amount. President Lee Jae-myung put it forward as a top-10 presidential campaign pledge.
Citing research cases on the U.S. fee cap, Lee presented the economic ripple effects in numbers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when San Francisco in the United States set a ceiling of up to 15% to protect independent restaurants, the number of independent restaurants joining delivery apps increased, but fees charged to consumers rose by 7% to 20%. As more consumers placed orders directly without going through the platform, delivery riders' wages fell by an average of 3.6%.
Applied to Korea, Lee's simulation shows order volume would decrease by 6.8%. He projected that, in that case, restaurant industry sales would fall by 2.5 trillion won and operating profit by 1 trillion won. He further assessed that if even free delivery were halted, restaurant industry sales would drop by 7.8 trillion won and operating profit by 3 trillion won.
Calls for caution over introducing a delivery app fee cap continued during the subsequent discussion. Jang Myung-gyun, a professor at Hoseo University, said, "It would be desirable to apply the cap temporarily and then reexamine its effects. Other methods—such as strengthening the Fair Trade Act, enhancing platform transparency, and introducing a regulatory sandbox—may be more effective."
Yoo Young-guk, a professor at Hanshin University, also said, "If we use a 'legislative card' as a way to solve the specific issue of delivery app fees, both researchers and practitioners will think and discuss based on the bill. You end up trapped inside the law."
There were also calls for a structural diagnosis aligned with the fee cap's purpose of protecting small business owners. Lee Choon-woo, a professor at the University of Seoul, said, "We need research on what share of delivery app merchants overall are experiencing profitability problems due to fee burdens," adding, "We should also consider policies that reduce small business owners' dependence on platforms and strengthen their self-sufficiency."