‘Timapp’ to support the victim companies in the settlement delay situation
Timon and Wemep (Timapp) victims who suffered from settlement delays are holding a black umbrella rally in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, urging for the detention and investigation of Timon and Wemep management, as well as the establishment of measures for relief.
According to the government, the undisclosed settlements of Interpark Shopping and AK Mall amount to approximately 80 billion won. The government will extend the maturity dates and guarantee the loans for the victim companies for up to 1 year, providing liquidity support of up to 30 billion won per company.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 8th that it will expand the scope of financial aid programs such as maturity extensions, repayment deferrals, and liquidity support from policy financial institutions to include companies affected not only by Timapp but also by the undisclosed settlements of Interpark Shopping and AK Mall.
Eligible companies and loans are those with sales after July during the settlement delay period, and include all financial institution operators or corporate loans, excluding household loans such as real estate loans or personal credit loans.
To receive support, companies that have partnered with the respective e-commerce platforms, such as Timapp, must prove their sales figures after July through the seller’s page on the homepage. They must have no defaults such as overdue loan repayments or closures due to insolvency. However, unavoidable loan defaults due to unforeseen financial difficulties caused by the undisclosed settlement are exceptions.
Companies can apply for liquidity support programs provided by banks and credit guarantee funds that offer support within a maximum limit of up to 30 billion won. The guarantee examination will be streamlined for amounts up to 300 million won per company, but for amounts ranging from 300 million to 30 billion won, certain amount restrictions may apply. The interest rate is set at 3.3% to 4.4% (guarantee fee of 0.5%). The Small Enterprise Market Promotion Agency also offers support for undisclosed settlement amounts up to 150 million won at a low interest rate of 2.5%.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security has requested each local government to expand their own programs promptly. Seoul has increased the per-company limit for e-commerce victim recovery funds from the current 50 million won to 150 million won and reduced the interest rate from 3.0% to 2.0%. Gyeonggi Province is focusing on distributing special management funds for e-commerce victim support to small and medium-sized enterprises with larger scale damages, adjusting the limits to 10 billion won for small businesses and 90 billion won for medium-sized enterprises.
So far, the financial institutions have supported a total of 1262 cases with 155.9 billion won for maturity extensions and repayment deferrals. Policy financial institutions received applications for 1470 cases (27.35 billion won) and provided support for 891 cases (13.36 billion won). The Ministry of SMEs and Startups stated that “large companies with significant damages have shown a high utilization rate of the liquidity support program” and pledged to continue close monitoring and management for companies with damages exceeding 100 million won.