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Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Over 3,800 individuals have applied for support from the Korea Consumer Agency for a collective lawsuit aimed at victims of payment issues related to travel products purchased on TMON and WEMAKEPRICE (Timemf).
The target group consists of 6,824 individuals who participated in collective dispute resolution, but whose proposed settlement was rejected by travel agencies and other involved parties. As of 9 AM on the 17th, 3,824 individuals had applied, marking a participation rate of 56%.
Previously, 8,054 consumers who had purchased travel and accommodation products from Timemf faced issues when they were unable to receive refunds totaling 13.5 billion KRW due to unsettled payments. These consumers participated in the dispute resolution process.
The Consumer Dispute Resolution Committee of the Korea Consumer Agency issued a decision in December last year, directing the sellers to refund up to 90% and payment gateway (PG) companies to refund up to 30%. However, only some simplified payment providers and about 40 companies that were set to receive smaller refund amounts accepted the settlement. The majority rejected it.
Since the dispute resolution decision is not legally binding, victims must file a civil lawsuit to recover their funds when the resolution fails.
Following the approach used during the Merge Point case, the Korea Consumer Agency decided to support the collective lawsuit for victims of travel products sold by Timemf. Applications for support have been accepted from February 17 to March 18.
The Consumer Agency is covering the cost of hiring five lawyers to handle the lawsuit. Victims will need to pay court filing fees (0.5% of the lawsuit amount), delivery fees (around 10,000 KRW), and up to 10% of the total amount as a success fee if they win the case.
The agency plans to finalize the attorney-client agreements between victims and the lawyers by next month and file the lawsuits by mid-year.
The relatively low participation rate of around 50% is thought to be due to victims with smaller refund amounts finding the lawsuit process cumbersome.
The Consumer Agency also supported five collective lawsuits related to the Merge Point incident that occurred in 2021. Of these, three cases resulted in victories at the first trial, while two are still pending.
AlphaBIZ Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
