Kakao refuted the “increase in taxi calls”, Gyeonggi Province said: “Let’s review the Fair Trade Commission”

In response to Gyeonggi Province’s suspicion that Kakao, who has taken over the taxi calling platform, is unfairly distributing calls, Kakao replied that “it is different from the truth.” In response, Gyeonggi-do refuted, saying, “In the investigation of the taxi drivers at the scene, the unfair shipment was confirmed.

Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myeong is saluting at the ‘Online Platform Market Monopoly Prevention Countermeasures Discussion’ held in Yeouido, Seoul on the 24th. [사진 경기도청]

Kakao Mobility (Kamo), a mobility subsidiary of Kakao, posted a notice on the 25th and strongly contested the results of the ‘Kakao T dispatcher survey’ announced the previous day by Gyeonggi province. According to Kamo data, the number of calls received by general (unaffiliated) private taxi drivers in 7 cities, counties and districts of Gyeonggi-do where Kamo-affiliated (Kakao T Blue) taxis advanced from the call brokerage app ( Kakao T) increased on average 42% per day. This is the result of a comparison between February and August, after the spread of the new coronavirus infection began. This is contrary to the content announced by Gyeonggi Province the day before.

On the 24th, Gyeonggi-do compared the two months before and after Kakao T Blue entered the seven regions and announced that the number of calls received by general taxi drivers from the call brokerage app (Kakao T) decreased by a 29.9% on average. The intention was to confirm the suspicion that Kamo operated Kakao T with 26 million subscribers and operated directly managed taxis (about 914) and affiliates (13,372) together to generate more calls to ‘self’. Gyeonggi-do announced the results by examining the number of calls and dispatches of 115 private taxi drivers.

Daily average number of calls received from the Gyeonggi-do private taxi driver. Graphic = Reporter Jaemin Shin [email protected]

In response, Kamo explained, “There must have been a mistake because Gyeonggi Province investigated with ‘acceptance call’ instead of ‘reception call.’ The taxi driver can verify only the number of dispatch calls that the driver selects and accepts, not the actual number of calls received. In other words, the Kakao T app sent more calls to the general taxi driver, but Kamo claims that the number of dispatches will decrease as a result because the driver did not accept it. The company noted that there is concern that the facts may be distorted because taxi drivers surveyed by Gyeonggi province account for only 0.4% of total Gyeonggi private taxis, and the survey’s target period overlaps with the period. in which the total amount of trips decreased due to Corona 19.

A Kamo official said: “As a result of verifying data from 7 regions surveyed by Gyeonggi Province, the number of calls actually accepted and operated was very small even though an average of more than 100 calls were sent per driver in the last 7 months. The claim that the number has decreased is not true. ”

Ryu Gung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility[사진 카카오모빌리티]

However, Gyeonggi-do refuted Kamo’s claim, saying, “I requested data several times, but did not provide it, and now I blame the data.” “In a survey of taxi drivers conducted together with the number of calls surveyed, 63.4% of 1026 drivers responded that they depend on calling Kakao T for more than half of their sales.” Because it is an opportunity, the incoming call will surely be proportional to the accepted call. “” I asked the number of calls that were seeded and, if not, I asked that the weight of each factor be considered for the dispatch algorithm, but all they refused, saying it was management information. ”“ We have investigated everything we could and submitted related data to the Fair Trade Commission. I’ll see. ”

The taxi industry responded that the results of Kamo’s investigation were different from reality. An official from the Gyeonggi-do Private Taxi Association said: “Kamo’s claim is that the number of calls increased in August since Corona 19 started February, but it is very different from the actual situation.” He said: “The number of customers decreased due to Corona 19, and the drivers were trying to cover the call. It is not in a position to receive and disappears as soon as the call arrives in the center,” he explained. “If the call increased by 42% as Kakao stated, it should be felt on the field, but it is not at all. ”

In the startup industry, there is a mixed reaction of concern. This is because the governor of Gyeonggi Gyeonggi, Lee Jae-myeong, a power leader, harshly criticized online platform companies in a debate that announced the survey results the day before. When the delivery app ‘People of Delivery’ tried to increase rates received at restaurants in April, the governor criticized it as “the tyranny of monopoly” and canceled the rate reform.

Lee Jae-myung Governor of Gyeonggi-do [사진 페이스북 캡처]

Choi Seong-jin, CEO of Korea Startup Forum, noted: “It is the same for delivery applications, but there is a distinction between the areas that the market must solve and the areas that the public must intervene.” It is a very worrying situation. “said Kidae Lee, director of the startup alliance.” The dream of a startup is to become like Kakao, a nation of deliveries, but when it grows, I start to worry that it will be harmed that way. ”

Reporters Park Min-je and Kim Jung-min [email protected]

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