Baemin faces backlash over new 'takeout' fee for restaurants

Woowa Brothers, operator of the country’s largest online food delivery platform Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, has faced backlash after introducing an additional fee for takeout orders charged to business users. The new fee, which took effect Monday, has drawn criticism primarily from businesses that depend on the platform for orders. They say the additional fee will further shrink their profitability, describing the measure as unfair. Woowa Brothers, owned by German food delivery giant Delivery Hero, started charging its business members a 6.8 percent fee Monday for each takeout order received through the platform. Takeout orders account for about 5 percent of the platform’s transactions, with the remainder consisting of doorstep deliveries. Each delivery order through the platform charges businesses up to 7.8 percent. There is also a separate “payment fee” for the businesses up to 3 percent. For a 20,000 won ($14.05) takeout order, the businesses now must pay up to 1,960 won to Woowa Brothers. Businesses using Baemin, upset with the new fee, have begun posting online about their dec