[123RF]
[123RF]

Lodging operators who fail to display room rates or charge more than their posted prices will face an immediate business suspension starting from the first violation.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that revised enforcement rules under the Public Health Control Act will take effect Tuesday.

The revision follows a joint government plan to eliminate price gouging announced Feb. 25. Under the previous rules, operators who failed to post room rates or charged above posted prices faced only a warning or an improvement order, which proved insufficient to encourage voluntary compliance.

In response, the government toughened its administrative penalty standards so that acts undermining consumer trust — including failing to display rates or collecting fees above posted prices — trigger an immediate business suspension even on a first offense.

Under the new rules, a first violation will result in a five-day business suspension.

Repeat violations carry escalating penalties: a 10-day suspension for a second offense, 20 days for a third, and a closure order for a fourth.

The ministry also extended the rate-posting requirement — previously limited to front desks — to online booking platforms, reflecting the reality that most lodging transactions now take place online.

Operators who run their business online must display room rates on the relevant online screens, and the same penalty standards apply if they charge more than the rates posted there.

However, violations caused by circumstances beyond the operator's control, such as system errors, are exempt from penalties.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it will notify local governments and lodging operators of the changes and conduct ongoing inspections to strictly address acts that undermine consumer trust, including failure to post rates and overcharging.

Kim Han-suk, director general of the ministry's health policy bureau, said there is a clear need to stamp out price gouging in the lodging industry. "We will tighten enforcement against operators who fail to post rates or charge above them, so that gouging does not recur," she said.


thlee@heraldcorp.com