Baemin discount fee waiver: Korean small business groups want Coupang Eats to follow

What is Baemin changing about its fees?

Baemin's operator, Woowa Brothers, said it will amend its terms so that discounts owners pay for are no longer counted when it calculates fees. That already applied to food price discounts. It now also covers discounts on the customer's delivery tip. The change removes them from both the brokerage fee and the payment settlement fee. Baemin estimates that, together with the earlier food discount deduction, owners' fee burden will fall by about 110 billion won a year.

The groups say owners had been funding discounts from their own pockets to win customers, yet were charged fees based on the price before the discount. They expect relief for businesses squeezed by high prices and weak domestic demand.

Why are groups targeting Coupang Eats?

The five groups want Coupang Eats and other platforms to scrap what they call an unfair billing system and base fees on the actual transaction amount. If Coupang Eats keeps its current structure, they say, they will take "emergency" action, though they gave no details.

A separate group, the Association of Owners for Fair Platforms, also welcomed the decision. It says it has asked since last year for fees to be based on what customers actually pay. Under the older food discount system, discounts were not charged fees, but the recent integrated discount policy deducts the delivery tip first, which brought the problem back.

The association says other issues remain, including free delivery policies, high fees and how delivery costs are split. It also praised Baemin for acting before Coupang Eats and said Coupang Eats, which it says has not communicated at all, should stop putting off changes.