A court ruling has stated that Kakao Mobility, a taxi-hailing service provider, should have the 27.1 billion won penalty surcharge imposed by the Fair Trade Commission due to allegations of 'call favoritism' canceled.
On the 22nd, the 7th Administrative Division of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Koo Hoe-geun) ruled in favor of Kakao Mobility in a lawsuit against the Fair Trade Commission, saying, "The corrective orders and penalty surcharge payment order imposed on Kakao Mobility by the Fair Trade Commission are both canceled." Lawsuits concerning the penalty surcharges imposed by the Fair Trade Commission proceed directly to the Seoul High Court for trial, followed by the Supreme Court.
The Fair Trade Commission imposed a penalty surcharge of about 27.1 billion won and a corrective order on Kakao Mobility in June 2023. The commission's investigation found that Kakao Mobility had discriminated against non-affiliated taxis by manipulating its taxi dispatch algorithm to favor its affiliated taxi, 'Kakao T Blue.'
Kakao Mobility’s Kakao T taxi hailing service is divided into 'regular calls' where passengers incur no fees, and 'Blue calls' where passengers may incur a fee of up to 3,000 won. Kakao Mobility has been accused of favoring its affiliated taxi, 'Kakao T Blue,' during the regular call service of the Kakao T application from March 2019 to April 2020. Even when a non-affiliated taxi is closer to the customer who requested the call, an affiliated taxi would be prioritized for dispatch. The Fair Trade Commission determined that Kakao Mobility favored affiliated taxis during regular calls to increase their numbers, leading to the imposition of the penalty surcharge and corrective orders.
In response, Kakao Mobility filed an administrative lawsuit seeking the cancellation of the corrective orders and penalty surcharges. They claimed, "The dispatch logic of Kakao T, which reflects the acceptance rate of taxi drivers, aims to increase consumer convenience, not to favor affiliates."
Upon the ruling from the Seoul High Court, Kakao Mobility issued a statement saying, "We welcome the court's ruling and will strive to coexist and develop together with the taxi industry."