WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from South Korea
KOREAN TAXI APP FINED $20M OVER UNFAIR TAXI HAILING SERVICE
Kakao Mobility Corp., South Korea’s largest taxi-hailing app operator, has been fined 25.7 billion won ($20.3 million) for discriminating against taxi drivers not subscribed to its paid membership. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Korea’s antitrust regulator, has imposed fines on the subsidiary of tech giant Kakao Corp. and issued a corrective order to remedy the illegal practice. The regulator said Kakao Mobility, rigged Kakao T app’s algorithm to allow franchised cab drivers under the Kakao T Blue brand to receive more calls from taxi users compared to non-franchise taxis, irrespective of the distance between the caller and the taxi. The preferential treatment contributed to the rapid growth in the number of taxi drivers subscribed to the company’s ride-hailing platform, the FTC said. The antitrust body said its investigation into Kakao Mobility from March 20, 2019 to mid-April 2020 also found that it manipulated its system to exclude member taxi drivers from less profitable, shorter- distance ride calls. Kakao Mobility said the FTC’s decision, which ignores the convenience of the passengers, is “regrettable.” “Our principle is to best serve consumers, not to best serve our member taxi drivers,” said a Kakao official. The company earlier said its taxi allocation services are based on artificial intelligence-powered analyses of expected arrival time, taxi drivers' acceptance rates of riding calls, their driving patterns and demand and supply conditions, as well as real-time traffic conditions and customers' reviews. In the process, the chances of matching the riding requests with non-member taxi drivers could be lowered, it said. The FTC probe began after trade groups of Korea's taxi drivers in 2020 accused Kakao Mobility of conducting unfair business practices. In a petition presented to the FTC, they argued that when
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assigning taxi calls, Kakao gave preference to taxi drivers subscribed to its paid membership over non- member taxis near the starting point of the taxi calls. According to the FTC, Kakao Mobility controlled 74% of the country's taxi-hailing service market with 11.36 million active monthly users at the end of 2021, up from 14.2% at the end of 2019. UT, the No. 2 such service provider, had 516,109 monthly users at end-2021. Earlier last month, industry sources said VCNC and Jin Mobility, the operators of Korea’s two premium ride- hailing apps – TADA and i.M – are considering a merger to challenge Kakao Mobility’s market dominance. Industry watchers said the FTC’s ruling could limit consumers’ options in a country where carpooling services such as TADA and Uber are basically banned. “Ironically, Kakao Mobility would not have reached such a dominant position if alternatives such as Uber were allowed in the Korean market,” said Kwon Nam- hoon, an economics professor at Konkuk University.
from Australia
TAXI FIRM CHARGED OVER DEATHS OF WHEELCHAIR USERS IN AUSTRALIA
A taxi company has been charged over the deaths of two passengers whose wheelchairs tipped backwards during separate incidents, months apart, in northern Victoria. Echuca-Moama Taxi Group is facing four charges brought by WorkSafe of failing to ensure the passengers were not exposed to health and safety risks. A 63-year-old woman died after her wheelchair fell backwards during a journey in Echuca on February 6, 2021. A 75-year-old man suffered a fractured sternum on June 28 that year after his chair tipped backwards. He died from complications while being treated in hospital a week later. The workplace health and safety regulator alleges the company failed to maintain a safe system of work or train its drivers how to use the wheelchair tie-down system in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines. A filing hearing for the charges will be held at Echuca Magistrates’ Court on February 28.
MARCH 2023 PHTM
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