By Kwak Yeon-soo
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has fined Kakao 2.5 million won ($2,157) for violating the e-commerce transaction law, the nation's antitrust watchdog said Sunday.
It also ordered Kakao to revise its unfair refund and exchange policies.
The antitrust agency said it had looked into the terms and conditions of kakaomakers, Kakao's mobile shopping platform, and discovered unfair terms that restricted the cancellation of purchases and refunds.
Between February 2016 and June 2018, Kakao posted a notice on its kakaomakers website, saying that because all products were custom made, ordered items were not eligible for return or exchange.
However, the financial watchdog said consumers should be entitled to cancel an order unless items were produced individually for each order and there was unrecoverable damage to the seller once the order was canceled.
The FTC said it had ordered the company to revise the terms to allow consumers to cancel purchases and get refunds if they want.
"Under the E-commerce transaction law, customers are allowed to get a refund within seven days of purchasing an item online," the FTC said in a press release. "However, Kakao has claimed on its website that its online items are all non-refundable."
"We expect the revision will help establish a fairer market order. We will continue to monitor the violation of laws in the e-commerce market and take all possible actions if violations infringe on consumer rights."
The Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions gives the FTC the right to take "measures necessary to correct the terms and conditions" of a business that incurs losses to "several customers because the businessperson fails to comply with the recommendation" to revise "unfair terms and conditions."
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| Kakaomakers logo. / Korea Times file |
It also ordered Kakao to revise its unfair refund and exchange policies.
The antitrust agency said it had looked into the terms and conditions of kakaomakers, Kakao's mobile shopping platform, and discovered unfair terms that restricted the cancellation of purchases and refunds.
Between February 2016 and June 2018, Kakao posted a notice on its kakaomakers website, saying that because all products were custom made, ordered items were not eligible for return or exchange.
However, the financial watchdog said consumers should be entitled to cancel an order unless items were produced individually for each order and there was unrecoverable damage to the seller once the order was canceled.
The FTC said it had ordered the company to revise the terms to allow consumers to cancel purchases and get refunds if they want.
"Under the E-commerce transaction law, customers are allowed to get a refund within seven days of purchasing an item online," the FTC said in a press release. "However, Kakao has claimed on its website that its online items are all non-refundable."
"We expect the revision will help establish a fairer market order. We will continue to monitor the violation of laws in the e-commerce market and take all possible actions if violations infringe on consumer rights."
The Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions gives the FTC the right to take "measures necessary to correct the terms and conditions" of a business that incurs losses to "several customers because the businessperson fails to comply with the recommendation" to revise "unfair terms and conditions."
