According to recent media reports, suppliers in direct purchase transactions are suffering from damages in such a case where online shopping companies deliberately delay the payments of supplied goods, but the damages are not remedied because the legal grounds for the punishment have not been established.

In fact, Article 8 of the current Act stipulates that the payment date of the proceeds from the sale of relevant goods shall be within 40 days from the monthly closing date, and if such stipulations are violated, delay interest shall be paid to suppliers along with punishment such as penalty surcharge; however, this is not applicable to direct purchases because the subject of application of the relevant clause is limited to the purchase under a special contract, sales floor lease, and consignment sale.

The Fair Transactions in Subcontracting Act, which governs the transfer of ownership of subject matter and the settlement of payments like direct purchase, stipulates that principal contractors shall pay subcontractors within 60 days from the date of receipt of subject matter.

Therefore, the amendment aims that even in the case of direct purchase in online shopping, distributors should pay suppliers within 60 days from the date of receipt of goods to prevent and remedy the actual damage to suppliers in the distribution industry and to apply the same regulation to similar acts (Article 8 (1)).

In any of the following cases, large franchise and retail business operators shall pay suppliers, etc., the proceeds from the sale of the relevant goods within 40 days from the monthly closing date. However, in the case of Subparagraph 4, they shall pay suppliers, etc., within 60 days from the date of receipt of the relevant goods (Article 8 (1)).
4. Where they sell the goods supplied by direct purchase