Regulator orders TMON, WeMakePrice to rectify handling of refund requests

A police car is stationed in front of the headquarters of WeMakePrice in Samseong-dong, Seoul, in this Aug. 1, 2024 file photo. Korea Times photo by Shin Yong-ju

The antitrust regulator said Wednesday it has ordered two local e-commerce platforms, TMON and WeMakePrice, to address their failure to make refunds or repayments to consumers amid a liquidity crisis last year.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) issued correction orders for the companies, saying they have violated the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

TMON failed to return approximately 67.5 billion won ($48.3 million) to its customers within the legally required three business days, despite refund requests, from December 2023 to July 2024, according to the FTC.

WeMakePrice is accused of failing to process 2.3 billion won worth of refund requests within three business days between March and July last year.

The two platforms were at the center of a massive payment delay scandal last year, sparked by liquidity problems of its parent company based in Singapore, Qoo10.

They are currently undergoing court-led rehabilitation processes after filing for court receivership last year.

On top of the correction orders, the FTC also issued a directive requiring the companies to submit a rehabilitation plan that includes their unpaid refunds to the court.

Some 56,000 vendors and 470,000 customers had yet to receive payments worth 1.3 trillion won and 130 billion won, respectively, from TMON and WeMakePrice as of March, according to the platforms' legal administrator.