Lawyers, accountants also banned from registering as affiliated merchants

Fines of up to three times illicit gains introduced

Onnuri gift vouchers. [Yonhap]
Onnuri gift vouchers. [Yonhap]

Stores with annual sales exceeding 3 billion won (about $1,940,000), as well as businesses in certain sectors including hospitals, law firms and accounting offices, will no longer be allowed to register as Onnuri gift voucher merchants.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Tuesday that the Cabinet approved an amendment to the enforcement decree of the Special Act on the Promotion of Traditional Markets and Shopping Districts, aimed at tightening merchant eligibility standards and curbing fraudulent distribution of Onnuri gift vouchers. The revised decree takes effect June 17.

From the effective date, merchants at traditional markets and neighborhood shopping districts whose sales in the previous fiscal year — or whose Onnuri voucher redemption amounts — exceed 3 billion won will be ineligible to register as affiliated merchants.

In addition, five categories of businesses previously eligible for merchant registration will be barred: healthcare providers (hospitals, clinics and traditional Korean medicine practices), veterinary services, accounting and tax-related services, legal services, and gambling facility management and operations.

Even merchants registered under the current rules will have their registration revoked if their sales later exceed the threshold or if they are found to fall under a restricted business category.

However, merchants registered before the effective date will not be subject to the revised sales and business-type requirements until their first renewal after the decree takes effect.

The amendment also introduces fines of up to three times any illicit gains and imposes penalty surcharges on certain fraudulent distribution practices that previously carried no separate sanctions.

Merchants that accept or redeem Onnuri vouchers without an actual transaction of goods or services will face fines of up to three times the amount of illicit gains.

Penalty surcharges will also now apply to three practices that previously resulted only in a caution: accepting Onnuri voucher payments outside the registered merchant premises or through non-face-to-face means, reusing vouchers received from consumers at a different affiliated merchant, and non-affiliated businesses accepting Onnuri vouchers.

The overhaul is seen as an effort to reinforce the original purpose of Onnuri gift vouchers — supporting small-scale merchants. Critics had long argued that allowing high-revenue stores and professional service businesses to register as merchants was diluting the policy's effectiveness. With the government this year expanding Onnuri voucher issuance and raising discount rates, the revisions appear designed to prevent benefits from concentrating in relatively large businesses and to direct them instead toward small shops in traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts.

"We expect this amendment to help Onnuri gift vouchers contribute more meaningfully to boosting sales for small merchants," Kim Jeong-ju, director of small business policy, said. "We will continue to refine the system so that Onnuri vouchers can drive sales growth in traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts and help revitalize local economies."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups urged affiliated merchants whose Onnuri voucher registrations are nearing expiration to submit renewal applications before the deadline. Merchant registrations are valid for three years, and more than half of currently registered merchants are set to expire in October.


boo@heraldcorp.com