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FTC uncovers unfair terms in Coupang Eats and Baemin delivery platforms

Published: 13 Oct. 2025, 18:20 Updated: 14 Oct. 2025, 19:31

The Coupang Eats logo is adhered to a restaurant window in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2024. [NEWS1]

Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has advised Coupang Eats to revise its terms of service after finding that the delivery platform charged restaurant partners commissions based on pre-discount prices — even when discounts were fully funded by the restaurants.

The FTC said Monday it uncovered unfair contract clauses in two major delivery platforms, Coupang Eats and Baedal Minjok, or Baemin. Investigators identified nine problematic clauses in Coupang Eats’ contracts and six in Baemin’s.

According to the watchdog, Coupang Eats calculated intermediary and transaction fees using the original menu price, rather than the discounted amount paid by customers. In contrast, competitors like Baemin and Yogiyo charge commissions on the actual payment total after discounts.

For example, if a fried chicken restaurant offers a 25 percent discount on a 20,000 won ($14) item, selling it for 15,000 won, Baemin and Yogiyo would charge a 7.8 percent commission on the discounted price — 1,170 won. However, Coupang Eats would apply the same rate to the original 20,000 won, resulting in a 1,560-won commission, pushing the effective fee rate to 10.4 percent.

"Without actually raising the commission rate, Coupang Eats gained additional revenue equivalent to a rate hike," said the director of the FTC's market surveillance department, noting that this pricing method generated hundreds of billions of won in extra revenue annually for the company.

The FTC recommended that Coupang Eats revise or delete the problematic clauses within 60 days, and warned that it may issue a corrective order if the platform fails to comply.

Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats stickers at a restaurant in Seoul [NEWS1]

Coupang Eats, however, maintains that its commission policy does not violate the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions.

“We have applied the same commission calculation method since the service launched and clearly informed vendors of it in advance,” a Coupang Eats spokesperson said. “We will fully explain our position through the FTC’s process.”

The platform was also found to have included unfair refund policies in its terms. One clause required vendors to pay 10 percent of the order amount as “customer compensation” when orders were canceled due to stock shortages or other reasons outside the vendors’ control. The FTC ruled this unfair, stating that such issues often stem from system errors or inventory problems and do not warrant such penalties, especially as customers can simply reorder from another restaurant.

Another revised clause previously made vendors bear the cost of retrieving food — even in cases where customers had already partially consumed it or refused to return it.

Coupang Eats claims that these refund-related clauses were never enforced in practice.

The photo shows vehicles coming and going at a Coupang logistics center in Seoul on Aug. 6. [YONHAP]

The FTC also ordered both Coupang Eats and Baemin to revise terms that allowed them to arbitrarily restrict store visibility or delivery zones without notifying vendors or specifying the reasons in advance. Visibility on the app is a key revenue driver for restaurants, and such changes can significantly affect their sales.

Additionally, both platforms were told to fix other clauses that allowed them to unilaterally delete customer reviews, withhold payments, or change settlement periods without prior notice.

The FTC plans to begin sanction procedures soon against Coupang Eats and Baemin over broader allegations of abuse of market power. Both companies have applied for a consent resolution process — which allows companies to voluntarily propose corrective measures to avoid formal sanctions — but neither has submitted a plan deemed sufficient by the FTC so far.

"The investigation into unfair trade practices, including demands for most-favored treatment and product bundling, is nearly complete," said Kim. "Where violations are confirmed, we will sequentially issue review reports and submit them to the commission’s plenary session."

"If the companies still wish to pursue consent resolutions, they must propose clear and proportional measures to benefit smaller partners and offset the violations," said Kim.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY AHN HYO-SEONG [[email protected]]