Ministry of SMEs and Startups to probe platform costs, introduce 'co-growth index' for small businesses

The government plans to conduct a comprehensive review of the fees borne by small business owners listed on online platforms, including brokerage commissions, advertising costs and delivery charges. It also plans to formalize a "platform co-growth index" to assess the level of mutual cooperation between platforms and the businesses listed on them.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said Monday it held a forum on mutual growth between online platforms and listed small business owners at the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to discuss unfair trading practices by platforms and ways to promote cooperation.

The forum brought together small business owners from a range of sectors — including food service, accommodation and real estate brokerage — along with officials from the Korea Fair Trade Commission, the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business and the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership.

Small business owners raised a range of grievances about their dealings with platforms, including brokerage commissions, advertising costs, payment settlement cycles, refund and return policies, and most-favored treatment and self-preferencing practices.

Particularly prominent concerns included platforms effectively making advertising a necessity rather than an option, pushing businesses into excessive spending, and cases where platforms passed refund and return costs onto listed businesses without verifying whether the consumer was at fault. Participants also pointed out that platforms were unilaterally imposing penalties that damaged the reputations of listed businesses.

The ministry said it would move to get a full picture of the costs small business owners actually bear when using platforms — not just brokerage commissions, but also advertising fees and delivery charges. Based on that data, it plans to establish a system for evaluating the level of mutual cooperation between platforms and listed businesses.

The ministry will also formalize a "platform co-growth index" to quantitatively assess cooperation between platforms and listed businesses. It will additionally pursue measures to guarantee "data sovereignty" for small business owners, ensuring they can directly use the data assets accumulated through their own business operations.

The ministry also said it would strengthen responses to unfair trade practices. When a listed business suffers unfair harm from a platform, the ministry said it would work with the Korea Fair Trade Commission to take swift action.

Second Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee Byung-kwon said a transparent and fair trading environment was needed for platforms and listed businesses to thrive as equal partners. "We will investigate the actual state of platforms, including the total management burden — brokerage commissions, advertising costs, delivery charges and more," he said.

Lee added that the ministry would actively reflect the on-the-ground feedback gathered Monday in its policy work, and would continue to communicate with small business owners and the platform industry to help spread a culture of voluntary cooperation between platforms and listed businesses.