Baemin agrees to lower platform fees after mediation

Baemin CI

Baedal Minjok (Baemin), South Korea’s top food delivery app, has reached a preliminary agreement with small business owners to waive all platform fees for orders under 10,000 won ($7.35) and reduce delivery fees paid by merchants.

The deal, mediated by the Democratic Party’s task force for small business rights, aims to ease cost burdens for restaurants and foster fairer terms on online platforms.

Under the agreement announced Thursday, Baemin will exempt merchants from paying intermediary commissions on orders of 10,000 won or less.

For orders ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 won, partial commission relief will also be introduced, though specific details are still under discussion. The delivery fee paid to riders, currently between 2,900 won and 3,400 won, will be set at a lower level.

The parties also agreed to revise the way Baemin calculates merchant sales for commission purposes.

When franchise headquarters issue promotional coupons, only the portion of the discount that the merchant actually pays will be counted toward the commissionable sales amount.

This expands the platform’s previous practice of excluding coupons issued directly by merchants from commission charges.

Baemin’s operator, Woowa Brothers, said it will provide up to 300 billion won in support over the next three years to fund these initiatives.

“This interim agreement helps reduce the burden on merchants and opens new opportunities for growth,” said Woowa Brothers CEO Kim Beom-seok. “Consumers will benefit from greater convenience and value, while merchants can expect higher order volumes with lower costs.”

The Democratic Party, which brokered the deal, emphasized that the plan marks only the beginning of ongoing negotiations.

The party said it will continue to push for legislative measures to ensure fair competition across digital platforms.