Carpooling Service

[Anchor Lead]

It's been a week since the taxi sector and Kakao Mobility, the operator of Korea's largest taxi-hailing application, struck an agreement on carpooling service. But carpool service providers not connected to Kakao are fiercely protesting. They are operating 24 hours a day and are set to join forces to demand a renegotiation.

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This carpool service allows reservations through a smartphone app and users can hail a cab any time. With its affordable fare and late night service, some 6,000 drivers and users have subscribed in just one day.

[Soundbite] Hyeon Gyeong-seon(Carpool user) : "The service is fast and female drivers are designated. so I feel safer."

The agreement reached between the taxi and carpool sectors a week ago had restricted carpooling to just two hours each during morning and evening rush hours. The earlier mentioned carpool service which operates all day long directly violates the agreement. The service argues that commute hours can no longer be standardized because the flexible work hour rule is expanding.

[Soundbite] Yoo Soo-hyeon(Vice chief, Wits Mobility) : "We seek to create a service customers of various needs can use in their hours of preference."

In order to avoid controversy, free-of-charge gratuitous carpool services have even emerged. The drivers don't collect a fare but receive tips from customers.

[Soundbite] Seo Yeong-woo(CEO, Poolus) : "The restriction on service hours is intended to discourage investment in the carpool sector."

Small and mid-sized carpool firms have issued a joint statement declaring the agreement between cab drivers and Kakao as invalid. They will also take legal action including filing a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission. A week after the compromise agreement was painstakingly reached, protests and confusion still persist with little sign of the situation being resolved any time soon.