The Fair Trade Commission said yesterday that it fined three large discount stores a total of 439 million won ($435,000) for unfairly using their dominant position to cheat their subcontractors.
E-Mart was fined 220 million won; HomePlus, 120 million won, and Carrefour, 99 million won. Lotte Mart and Wal-Mart received orders to correct their dealings with their subcontractors.
According to the antitrust agency, E-Mart, HomePlus and Wal-Mart returned goods worth 1.8 billion won to their subcontractors without a reasonable explanation.
It also said Carrefour and HomePlus took advantage of ambiguity in their arrangements with their subcontractors to force them to do whatever they wanted, such as set up displays.
Separately, the agency also said E-Mart and Lotte Mart was guilty of false advertising.
“Beginning next month, we will run a system that will reward those who report unfair practices in the retail industry to tighten the supervision in large discount stores,” said an official at the Fair Trade Commission.