Delivery fee cap risks shifting costs to riders, consumers

Three bills pending at the National Assembly would cap fees charged by food-delivery platforms to restaurants in South Korea. The proposals could reduce businesses’ costs but shift financial burdens to riders and consumers. Under current fee structures, a 20,000-won order can incur 4,300 won in delivery, payment-processing and additional fees, or 22 percent of the order value. Experts and the delivery workers’ union called for transparent data sharing and burden-sharing across the ecosystem.

Rep. Lee Kang-ill proposed capping combined brokerage, payment-processing and advertising fees at 15 percent while separately regulating delivery fees, whereas Rep. Park Jeong-hun proposed applying the 15 percent cap to all four fees.

For a 20,000-won order, the delivery fee is 3,300 won, the payment-processing fee is 600 won and the additional fee is 400 won.

The Delivery Platform Workers’ Union said lower delivery fees could reduce delivery workers’ wages because delivery rates are directly linked to their pay.

Ohk Kyung-young said reduced platform fee revenue could lead operators to scale back membership benefits such as coupons and discount events.

Jun Joo-yong said industry policies should distribute the burden among restaurants, platforms, customers and riders rather than placing it on one group.

Published Oct 13, 2026 7:00 am KST

Experts warn proposed limits on platform fees could hurt delivery workers, undermine services for small businesses

A delivery rider on the streets of Seoul, July 8 / Yonhap

Pending bills at the National Assembly proposing a cap on delivery platform fees charged to food businesses to reduce their financial burdens, particularly small businesses with limited customer bases, are raising questions about the effectiveness of the proposed changes.

Industry experts have examined the current ecosystem, which consists of food-ordering platforms, participating businesses, customers who place orders and riders who deliver them. They found that the cap could reduce the burden on businesses using the platforms but shift that cost to other groups in the ecosystem, such as riders and consumers.

Three bills proposing different versions of the cap are pending at the National Assembly. One was proposed by Rep. Lee Kang-ill of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Policy Committee. He proposed capping the combined brokerage fee, payment processing fee and advertising expenses at 15 percent of an order's value, while imposing a separate cap and a minimum floor on delivery fees. Rep. Park Jeong-hun of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) proposed applying the same 15 percent cap to the combined total of all four fees.

The pending bills have already raised questions about whether delivery fees should be included in the cap. Calculations, however, show how such a regulation could disrupt the industry ecosystem.

Under the current fee structures of the country's largest food-ordering platforms, including Baedal Minjok and Coupang Eats, a restaurant receiving an order worth 20,000 won ($14.88) through a platform would pay a delivery fee of 3,300 won, equivalent to 16.5 percent of the order's value — already exceeding the proposed 15 percent cap. Including a payment processing fee of 600 won and an additional fee of 400 won, the total fees would amount to 22 percent of the order's value, exceeding the proposed cap.

Because delivery fees account for the largest share of the total fees, the most straightforward way to comply with the cap would be to lower them. The Delivery Platform Workers' Union, however, warned in a statement issued Oct. 2 that such a move requires careful consideration.

Delivery scooters are parked at Baemin Riders Southern Center in Seoul's Gangnam District in October 2021. Newsis

“The delivery rate is directly linked to the wages for delivery workers … If there came a new system that lowers the fees for the platform-using businesses, there must also be another system that prevents the former system from transferring the reduced burden to get at the delivery workers’ wage rates,” the union said.

“Unlike the restaurant businesses that were given the right to negotiate with the platform operators, delivery workers are still not given those rights. Future decisions on the cap will have to be made based on transparent data sharing that shows how the new regulations on the fees will affect the delivery workers’ wages.”

The PPP issued a statement Saturday opposing the proposed cap. It said the bill could end up “backfiring on public livelihood, shifting new burdens onto small business owners, rather than protecting them.”

“The issue lies not in its intent, but in its execution," the party said. "Uniform price controls that disregard market structures will ultimately backfire, returning as a boomerang to small business owners, consumers and riders alike."

Scholars and industry experts also discussed ways to reform the industry's existing fee structure at a seminar last month.

Jun Joo-yong, a professor of economics at Dongguk University, said at the seminar, jointly hosted by the Korea Association for Telecommunications Policies and the Korean Competition Law Association on Sept. 30, that policies for the food-ordering industry “should not pose a burden to a single group in the ecosystem” but that “instead, the burden must be shared by all players in the ecosystem.”

Ohk Kyung-young, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women's University, said at the same seminar that the cap would reduce fee revenues for platform operators, potentially prompting them to scale back benefits for platform membership subscribers, such as coupons and discount events.

"The weaker a small store’s own customer base, the more critical customer influx through platforms becomes," Ha Myung-jin, secretary-general of the Korea Online Shopping Association, said at the seminar. “If regulations stifle services aimed at acquiring new customers for small stores and restrict the choice of diverse pricing plans, the very small business owners we intend to protect could end up losing their opportunities for growth.”

韩国国会正在审议三项法案，旨在限制外卖平台向餐厅收取的费用。这些提案有望降低餐厅的成本，但同时也会将经济负担转嫁给骑手和消费者。按照目前的收费标准，一份2万韩元的订单可能需要支付4300韩元的配送费、支付处理费和其他费用，相当于订单金额的22%。专家和外卖员工会呼吁在整个生态系统中实现透明的数据共享和费用分担。

议员李康日提议将经纪费、支付处理费和广告费的合并上限设定为 15%，同时对配送费进行单独监管；而议员朴正勋则提议将 15% 的上限应用于所有四项费用。

对于 20,000 韩元的订单，配送费为 3,300 韩元，支付处理费为 600 韩元，附加费为 400 韩元。

外卖平台工人工会表示，降低配送费可能会减少外卖员的工资，因为配送费与他们的收入直接挂钩。

Ohk Kyung-young表示，平台费用收入减少可能会导致运营商缩减会员福利，例如优惠券和折扣活动。

全柱勇表示，行业政策应该将负担分摊到餐厅、平台、顾客和骑手身上，而不是集中在一个群体身上。

发布于2026年10月13日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

专家警告称，拟议的平台费用限制可能会损害外卖员的利益，并削弱小型企业的服务。

7月8日，首尔街头一名外卖员 / 韩联社

国民议会正在审议一些法案，这些法案提议限制外卖平台向食品企业收取的费用，以减轻其经济负担，特别是那些客户群体有限的小型企业。然而，这些法案引发了人们对拟议改革有效性的质疑。

行业专家对当前的食品订购生态系统进行了研究，该生态系统包括订餐平台、合作商家、下单顾客和送餐骑手。他们发现，设定订单上限可以减轻平台合作商家的负担，但会将成本转移到生态系统中的其他群体，例如骑手和消费者。

目前国会正在审议三项关于交易费用上限的不同提案。其中一项由执政党共同民主党议员、国家政策委员会成员李康日提出。他提议将经纪费、支付处理费和广告费的总和上限设定为订单金额的15%，同时对配送费设定单独的上限和最低限额。主要反对党国民力量党议员朴正勋则提议将这四项费用的总和上限设定为15%。

待审议的法案已经引发了关于配送费是否应纳入价格上限的质疑。然而，计算表明，这样的规定可能会扰乱行业生态系统。

根据韩国最大的几家外卖平台（包括Baedal Minjok和Coupang Eats）目前的收费标准，餐厅通过这些平台接到一笔价值2万韩元（约合14.88美元）的订单，需支付3300韩元的配送费，相当于订单金额的16.5%，已经超过了拟议的15%上限。加上600韩元的支付处理费和400韩元的附加费，总费用将达到订单金额的22%，也超过了拟议的上限。

由于配送费在总费用中占比最大，因此遵守费用上限最直接的方法就是降低配送费。然而，外卖平台员工工会在10月2日发表的声明中警告说，此举需要慎重考虑。

2021年10月，外卖摩托车停放在首尔江南区Baemin Riders Southern Center。Newsis

工会表示：“配送费率与配送员的工资直接相关……如果出台新制度降低了平台商家的费用，那么也必须有另一套制度来防止旧制度将降低的费用转嫁到配送员的工资上。”

“与被赋予与平台运营商谈判权利的餐饮企业不同，外卖员仍然没有这种权利。未来关于费用上限的决定必须基于透明的数据共享，这些数据共享将展示新的费用规定将如何影响外卖员的收入。”

PPP周六发表声明，反对拟议的上限。声明称，该法案最终可能会“对公众生计产生反作用，将新的负担转移到小企业主身上，而不是保护他们。”

该党表示：​​“问题不在于其意图，而在于其执行。无视市场结构的统一价格管制最终会适得其反，对小企业主、消费者和骑手来说都将是致命一击。”

上个月，学者和行业专家在一次研讨会上讨论了改革行业现有收费结构的方法。

东国大学经济学教授全柱勇在9月30日由韩国电信政策协会和韩国竞争法协会联合举办的研讨会上表示，外卖行业的政策“不应给生态系统中的某个群体造成负担”，而“相反，负担必须由生态系统中的所有参与者共同承担”。

淑明女子大学消费经济学教授吴京英在同一研讨会上表示，该上限将减少平台运营商的费用收入，可能会促使他们缩减平台会员订阅者的福利，例如优惠券和折扣活动。

韩国网络购物协会秘书长河明镇在研讨会上表示：“小型商店自身的客户基础越薄弱，通过平台引入的客户就越重要。如果监管措施扼杀了旨在帮助小型商店获取新客户的服务，并限制了多样化定价方案的选择，那么我们想要保护的这些小型企业主最终可能会失去发展机会。”