Woowa Brothers, Coupang face $465 mil. in fines for abusing delivery market dominance
Woowa Brothers and Coupang have been slapped with a combined 631.9 billion won ($465 million) in fines for abusing their dominant positions in Korea’s food delivery market by forcing affiliated restaurants to offer consumers prices and promotional terms at least as favorable as those available through competing channels. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday it has decided to order the…
The Fair Trade Commission has fined Woowa Brothers and Coupang a combined 631.9 billion won, or approximately $465 million, for abusing their dominant positions in South Korea's food delivery market. The two companies were ordered to rectify unfair practices and face provisional fines: Woowa Brothers, the operator of Baemin, faces 331.1 billion won, while Coupang, which operates Coupang Eats, is fined 300.8 billion won.
Together, they control more than 90 percent of the nation's food delivery market share. The FTC's investigation revealed that the companies forced affiliated restaurants to offer consumers prices and promotional terms that were at least as favorable as those available through competing channels. This abuse of market power restricted restaurants' ability to offer different prices, discounts, and other terms through rival delivery platforms, making it difficult for them to establish more favorable conditions and weakening competition in the market.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
