Kakao reduces the commission rate of Kakao T’s affiliated taxis to 2.8 percent

A KakaoT Blue taxi passes by a taxi stand at Seoul\'s West Station on the morning of Feb. 2. Yonhap News Agency.

Kakao Mobility has agreed with the taxi industry to lower the commission rate of its platform Kakao T's affiliated taxis to 2.8 percent. It has also decided to abolish the paid service for unaffiliated taxi drivers next year.

On December 13, Kakao Mobility announced that it came up with the agreement after having a meeting with the affiliated taxi industry. The two sides agreed to launch a new affiliated taxi service that lowers the commission rate to 2.8 percent by simplifying the affiliated taxi service.

The new affiliated taxi service will minimize the cost burden of affiliated taxi companies and make the appearance of a taxi like an advertising product so that taxi operators and drivers can make additional profits.

Kakao Mobility also came up with measures for unaffiliated drivers. The company has decided to abolish its "Pro Membership," an optional product for unaffiliated drivers, by the end of next year. Pro Membership is a service that is only available to unaffiliated drivers who pay 39,000 won per month.

However, the government plans to discuss with the industry and set a specific schedule for abolishing the service to minimize the inconvenience of drivers who are currently using the membership.

Kakao Mobility has also decided to revise its matching algorithm by actively reflecting demands and opinions from the taxi industry for fairer dispatch of taxis. When sending out the first call card, the company plans to dispatch based on the combination of the existing artificial intelligence-based recommendation dispatch system and a new shortest-distance priority dispatch system.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.