Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Establishes Institutional Framework as Follow-up Measure to Amended Passenger Vehicle Act
Advancing Regulatory Sandbox System and Early Startup Contribution Fee Reduction

The government and industry have joined forces to drive mobility innovation that enables users to move at their desired time, in their preferred manner, to their desired destinations.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the mobility industry held a meeting on March 17 to discuss follow-up measures to the amended Passenger Vehicle Act, plans for prompt service launches, and related countermeasures.

Thirteen mobility companies participated in the meeting, including taxi-based operators, rental car-based operators, and operators preparing new business ventures.

Previously, on March 6, the amended Passenger Vehicle Act passed, establishing new institutional foundations for platform operators to engage not only in simple brokerage but also in direct transport operations, while providing the mobility industry—which had faced difficulties in business advancement due to legal uncertainty—with new and stable ground to pursue bold initiatives.

Through this meeting, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport promised to support early service launches before the amended law takes effect by utilizing the regulatory sandbox system, while also providing early-stage startups with benefits such as reduced platform transport business contribution fees.

Additionally, for platform affiliated businesses, the license vehicle quota standard will be significantly relaxed from the existing 4,000 vehicles to 500 vehicles based on Seoul standards to lower barriers to entry, and implementation regulations will be amended to allow drivers to obtain their qualifications within one to two days, ensuring there are no disruptions in driver supply.

Various business models such as affiliated taxis including Kakao and Marcarong, half-and-half taxis, and demand-responsive large vans are emerging, and the industry anticipates that even more diverse and convenient mobility services will appear in the future.

Minister Kim Hyun-mee of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport stated, "We will demonstrate a Korean-style innovation model where mobility innovation can achieve mutual prosperity with the people," and added, "As safe mobility has become more important due to the COVID-19 situation, we will continue to collaborate in developing new models for mobility safety in the hyper-connected era."

Meanwhile, the government has been continuously pursuing institutional improvements, including resolving unreasonable practices such as daily lease fees, addressing structural issues such as aging individual taxi drivers, implementing full management and monthly salary systems, and relaxing acquisition conditions for individual taxis to encourage young and middle-aged workers to enter the industry.