[경제]At the end of the year, ‘No gatherings of 5 or more people are allowed’ … What is the penalty for transportation and accommodation?

[앵커]

As private meetings with more than 5 people are prohibited throughout the country, vacation trips and various events are canceled one after another.

I am very interested in what will happen to the penalty if transportation or accommodation is unavoidably unavailable due to corona prevention.

Reporter Taemin Kim summarized the relevant regulations.

[기자]

As social distancing strengthened, private gatherings of more than 5 people were banned and the scenario at the end of the year changed dramatically.

[김승현 / 서울 양평동 : 고향에서 저희 부모님이랑 동생이 올라왔는데 저희 가족이 6인이거든요. 가족만 6명이니까 어딜 가더라도 5인 이상인 거고, 서울까지 왔는데 맛있는 집에 데려가지도 못하는 게 좀 아쉬워요.]

In particular, as lodging establishments can only operate half of all rooms, there are unavoidable cancellations.

So what about the cancellation penalty?

Last month, the Fair Trade Commission set a new dispute resolution standard for travel, aviation, accommodation and catering services.

If you change or cancel your reservation in accordance with the social distancing steps, you have set a rate at which you may receive a reduction in penalty.

First, if the facility is closed in the third step of social distancing or if it is impossible to visit a certain area itself, it is recommended to change or cancel the terms of the contract without penalty for both accommodation and flight.

Also, in the step 2.5 social distancing situation, the date can be changed without penalty or half the penalty can be reduced.

However, it is difficult to apply the regulations drastically in the current situation where additional measures were implemented in step 2.5 of social distancing.

In response, the FTC explained that these provisions are recommended for reference only in the dispute resolution and settlement process, saying they are recommended without legal force.

However, some point out that the government should have prepared detailed guidelines that can be applied to the reservation cancellation situation in advance.

In fact, it turns out that small lodging companies have a problem with guests from penalties.

[숙박업체 관계자 : 예약을 다 받아놓은 상태에서 현금 들어온 건 직원들 월급 주고 다 써버린 상태인데…. 손님들 다 그렇게 나와요, 정책에서 그렇게 (금지 조치를) 때렸는데 왜 위약금을 받느냐는 식으로 얘기하죠.]

Consequently, the confusion on the site due to the sudden cancellation of the reservation is expected to continue for the time being without a clear solution.

YTN Taemin Kim[[email protected]]is.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]