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law on the distribution structure of mobile phones will be revised after 7 years.
It was introduced with the aim of preventing discrimination in subsidies when buying a mobile phone, but criticism has been raised that everyone bought it at a high price. Reporter Kim Ki-tae reports on the change.
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Users are subject to the disclosure subsidies determined by the mobile phone company and additional subsidies at the discretion of the distribution store when purchasing a mobile phone.
If you buy a mobile phone that costs 1 million won, assuming an average publicly disclosed subsidy of 300,000 won, the additional subsidy is limited to a maximum of 45,000 won.
This is because the Dantong Law restricts payment to within 15% of the publicly disclosed subsidy.
Because of this, some retailers have been experiencing problems, such as illegally paying out-of-limit subsidies to attract more customers.
The Korea Communications Commission has come up with an amendment to increase the support fund limit to 30%.
By raising the limit, it is estimated that consumers will receive an additional support fund of up to 48,000 won.
Incentives that were concentrated in certain distribution stores, which were so-called'holy lands', are expected to be transferred to other places, reducing illegal subsidies.
[Kim Jae-cheol/Director of User Policy, Korea Communications Commission: If the additional subsidy limit is raised, additional benefits of up to 50,000 won are expected to return.]
The'separate disclosure system', which requires manufacturers and telecommunications companies to separately notify sales subsidies, has been omitted from the amendment to prevent manufacturers from setting their handset prices high and then giving subsidies.
This is the reason that the competitive environment among manufacturers has changed due to LG Electronics' withdrawal of the mobile phone business, and some point out that it is somewhat insignificant compared to the'short-handed surgery' notice.
(Video editing: Jo Moo-hwan)