The Fair Trade Commission has revised 173 unreasonable local government ordinances and regulations in partnership with local governments. A major overhaul has been carried out, focusing on regulations that obstruct the free entry of businesses or infringe on consumer rights.
According to the Fair Trade Commission on the 13th, the total number of local regulations improved last year in cooperation with 17 local governments nationwide is 173. Among them, regulations limiting consumer rights accounted for 84 (48.5%) and included many related to entry restrictions (33), discrimination against businesses (31), and restrictions on business activities (25).
First, provisions directly related to consumer rights have been significantly revised. In local government ordinances related to public facilities such as camping sites, sports facilities, and lifelong learning centers operated by local governments, the criteria for penalties and refunds due to 'operator liability' were often missing or only stated user responsibility. The Fair Trade Commission has instructed local governments to uniformly improve their ordinances to apply the 'consumer dispute resolution standards.' This aims to correct unreasonable operational practices such as non-refundable cancellations and full penalty charges.
Provisions that obstruct free competition among businesses have also been extensively revised. In some areas, such as Gangwon and Chungcheongnam-do, there were ordinances stating, 'Refrain from excessive competition among local construction companies,' but the Fair Trade Commission has had this phrase removed and revised it to expressions such as 'encouraging healthy competition.' This change addresses concerns that excessive interference in business pricing or activities could lead to collusion.
Ordinances that entirely block market entry have also been improved. Four local governments, including Jeonnam, had conditions stating that when designating a water supply construction agency, 'the headquarters must be located in the local government area.' However, this condition was removed as it was deemed a barrier to entry for outside businesses.
Provisions discriminating against businesses have been revised as well. In four places, including Gyeongnam and Chungbuk, ordinances required 'prioritizing the purchase of products from local corporations,' which raised concerns that this could restrict participation from businesses in other regions and hinder competition. The Fair Trade Commission has taken action to delete or amend these phrases.
The criteria for distributing taxi licenses have also been included in the list of improvements. Ten local governments, including Seoul and Gyeonggi, were giving priority to older individuals when issuing licenses for individual taxis if they had the same experience, but this has been changed to a lottery system on the grounds that age is not a directly related criterion for taxi service.
A Fair Trade Commission official noted, 'We will continue to discover unreasonable local regulations that can harm regional competition or cause consumer harm and work with local governments to improve them.'