The nation's No. 1 food delivery service operator, Baedal Minjok (Baemin), has enemies on every side as the controversy over the fee reform has magnified significantly.
The ruling party is even considering filing a formal complaint with the Fair Trade Commission on the monopoly issue on Baemin by Woowa Brothers.
Restaurants and other self-employed businesses, hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, are strongly demanding the withdrawal of the new fare system, calling it a "virtually trick for increasing fees for delivery.”
It could also affect mergers and acquisitions between Woowa Brothers and DH (Delivery Hero), which are pushing for 4.75 trillion won, the largest amount in the Korean Internet industry.
“The issue could be the beginning of the monopoly issue of Woowa Brothers following the merger with DH. I am considering filing a complaint with the FTC through the party's committee over related issues,” a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party said. "He also stressed that he plans to propose a law on protecting and nurturing small and medium-sized traders as soon as the election is over."
As a result, Baemin will immediately start to come up with measures to improve its "open service", a new rate system. Baemin has promised to listen to the business owner's opinion and supplement protection measures for restaurants that are more costly in many ways.
The company also said it will conduct a thorough review of data such as changes in the number of orders ordered by restaurants and changes in the cost burden after the introduction of the open service and release the accumulated data in a transparent manner.
At the same time, Baemin decided to return half of the cost of the open service in April without a cap limit.
"We are once again sorry for the confusion and burden caused by introducing a new fare system," said the Baemin. "With this incident, we will increase sales at restaurants and make sure that users have the most guaranteed choice for restaurants."
Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, meanwhile, criticized Baemin on Facebook the previous day as a monopoly. He then said he would develop a "public delivery app."
He criticized Baemin on April 4 for saying, "Does it not matter if you have some power and you get an unfair advantage over powerless restaurants even though the restaurants are already in a difficult situation with COVID-19?"